The next chapter: December 2024 update

/ Melanie Marttila

Settling into recovery mode … (cue olde-timey modem squealing)

Picture of the quarter moon above a tree.

Life in general

The illen settled in, but I hadn’t yet gotten headaches, facial pain, or any of that ilk, so I continued on with the neti-pot, Emergen-C, and Advil Cold & Sinus. If things got worse, I figured I’d go to the clinic as I’d done in the past and see what came of it.

If I made it through to my January doctor’s appointment (not my preference—I really didn’t want to be sick over the holidays) I’d see what he’d say about it.

In the meantime, I’m trying to take care as best I know how. Staying hydrated, eating well, getting as much sleep as I can, though I rarely get the sleep I need during the work week. And that’s the blessing and curse of working from home. I can still work while I’m sick without exposing anyone else to what I’ve caught, but sinus infections aren’t contagious, per se.

There was work to be done, though, and so work I did.

I sought the advice of a pharmacist who recommended Cold FX. So, I tried that out. I thought the illen was too far advanced for it to help but combined with meds to reduce symptoms and the irrigation of the neti-pot, it seemed to help with sleeping through the night. I also added hot toddies in the evening (tea with honey and rum). I’m pulling out all the old home remedies and supports I can.

And…toward the end of the month, after some narsty nights plagued with coughing—more the result of stubborn snot clinging to my airways and turning my throat into some bizarre mucus air harp (wheeze, whistle, gurgle) than anything else—I finally managed to sleep through the night.

Things seemed to be turning the corner in a positive direction.

I’ve discovered that if I have anything other than work scheduled on a weekday evening, be it a critique group meeting, support group meeting, haircut, taking Torvi to get her nails ground—anything, I’m out of spoons for the day.

I’m trying to respect my energy levels, day to day, and I’m learning that my executive function and support needs also vary daily. What I was once able to do easily, I may now struggle with. It’s a difficult lesson to learn.

Thank…whatever, I have some time off over the holidays.

The month in writing

Getting back into writing mode is an iffy proposition. I worked on some edits for a short story early in the month and that seemed to go well.

I wrote a poem. Not sure of its quality, but it felt good in the writing.

But when it came to Reality Bomb, the going was tough. I got back to it on the 9th but managed maybe half a page. Still, I touched it!

The next day, I had an appointment after work and my Dispatches meeting, so I wasn’t able to get to RB.

I did a little more work on it the next evening, but the following two days were challenging at work, and I had no energy to speak of in the evenings. I also had a sneezing fit (one every 10 to 15 seconds for about a half hour) the first night and that took all the fight out of me. The second night it was coughing fits over the course of an hour, which aggravated my GERD. I’m sure both helped to usher out infection (it’s what they do, after all) but both were exhausting and not conducive to trying to write (or do anything else).

But I finally finished rewriting the troublesome chapter I started working on last month and moved on with my re-read. I finished that in a couple of evenings, with minor touch-ups.

When I got back to the drafting of the final two chapters, though, I stalled again, but just for a couple of days while I was focusing on recovery, finishing up the Christmassing, and doing some associated running around.

The going was slow, but I got back to it.

Along with preparing my application to the Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity SFF Program, and some grant applications.

Something I neglected to mention last month was that an old friend of Siobhan Riddell reached out to me and offered to send me one of the sketches she’d done for him. I couldn’t justify accepting one of his remembrances, but I did accept a couple of pictures. They’re lovely.

This has happened periodically over the years, and it gives me all the feels to know that Siobhan’s wondrous work has touched other people as deeply (or deeper, frankly) as it’s touched me.

Then, I received some news about Through the Portal. Apparently, their website was down, but it’s back up and running again.

And they are planning two in-person events for the anthology, both in Toronto. One was on December 28th and the other in February 2025. I can’t participate in either, so I’ve been kept out of the loop on the publicity.

I received an opportunity mid-month to submit my work to the poetry in Canada poetry bookshelf. I’ll let you know when The Art of Floating makes its appearance.

There was an SF Canada board meeting on the 3rd to prepare for the upcoming AGM. It was an efficient meeting, and all the necessary decisions and arrangements were made.

The AGM itself was scheduled for the 28th. There were a few technical issues and delays, but everything worked out in the end.

The year in review

This has been a momentous year for me in terms of writing. My debut poetry collection! All the promo and signings and reviews and events around that! More poetry publications! A cli-fi short story publication! Another acceptance of a poem and a short story for future publication!

Given that I’ve been in burnout since September, that’s not bad!

In terms of words written or revised in the year, I:

  • wrote only 1,553 words of short fiction and revised 187 (that I tracked),
  • wrote 3,232 words of creative non-fiction,
  • wrote 28 new poems, and
  • wrote 39,059 words in this blog/newsletter.

I stopped tracking my revision efforts on Reality Bomb partway through the year. It was getting complicated. But if things progress as they have been, I should finish with a 120k-word draft. I’d wanted to bring it down more than that, but I still have a listening pass to go, and hope to find a few more places to trim then.

In writing-related events, my ongoing, though stalled, work with Suzy Vadori, and the Stillwater Writing Retreat are highlights.

In retrospect, though I took my six-week, self-funded leave as a means to recover from the flurry of activity around the launch of The Art of Floating, I now recognize that I was probably anticipating burnout even then. I could not have anticipated the accidents and illnesses of either my mom or my mom-in-law, but I could probably feel the impending exhaustion.

I’m grateful I took the leave and that my employer offers the work arrangement, but it means that I won’t be able to take another until the latter part of 2025.

At work, I was able to accept an acting position as an instructional designer on a new team, and though the transition has been a bit fraught, things are finally coming together on the one major project.

In terms of reading, I set myself the goal of reading 50 books this year. In fact, I’ve read or listened to 93 books, 186% of my goal. Admittedly, reading several poetry collections, a fair amount of short non-fiction, and listening to audiobooks helped to increase the number of books I read this year, I still outpaced my goal by quite a bit. And I’ve read a bunch of books that I wouldn’t normally.

Filling the well

The new Reed moon in Sagittarius was on December 1st.

The full moon in Gemini was on the 15th.

Winter solstice fell on the 21st. Did my altar thing.

And the new Elder moon in Capricorn was on the 30th. I know the second full moon in a month is referred to as a “blue” moon, but I had no idea that the second new moon in a month is called a “black” moon. It’s not official astronomy terminology, but that’s what’s out there on the interwebz.

I had no writerly events this month, to my great relief. I needed the relax and to focus on getting my words back.

I did meet for a final time this year with my Dispatches critique group on the 10th. It was a relaxed evening.

I had a massage on the 4th. Bliss.

My support group met on the 18th. This month’s topic was shame. And hoo-boy is this a big issue for me.

And I finished the month with some well-earned and desperately needed annual leave. I was off from the 21st through to January 1st, 12 days off for the price of 5.

My bestie and her partner came up for a visit on the 28th. Phil made cookies and apple cake. They went home with the remainders.

What I’m watching and reading

I watched the fourth and final season of Superman & Lois (CTV SciFi). Yeah, they did the death of Superman. Last season, Lex Luthor turned Bizarro into Doomsday by injecting him with a serum that resurrects him and then killing him repeatedly (I know, I know). Doomsday kills Superman in front of his family, ripping out his heart. Jordan gets him to the Fortress and into suspended animation, but he can’t heal without a heart. So, General Lane sacrifices himself after injecting himself with the serum that resurrected Bizarro so that Lois and the boys can use it to heal Clark. But having a human heart is enough to make Clark age and slowly de-power.

Yadda, yadda, yadda. Final showdown with Doomsday (again) and Lex in John Henry’s suped-up suit. Superman saves the day. In the aftermath, Lex goes to jail for good, several couples are united, Jon (who developed powers) and Jordan get married and have a passel of kids. Lois’s cancer returns, she dies, and then Clark’s human heart gives out. Clark and Lois are reunited in the afterlife.

Having said that (and rather snarkily), S&L was one of the best series to emerge from the “Arrowverse” (even though it was supposed to be in a separate timeline). All the other series got old after a few seasons of retreading the same ground, although most were entertaining, initially.

Charlie Jane Anders has an interesting take on why the Arrowverse, as a whole, was the best set of superhero series on TV. I don’t know if I agree with her, but she says that superhero stories, having come from the comics, are inherently episodic and focused not on superheroic antics, but on the emotional entanglements and journeys of the characters. They’re soap operas. I see her point, but I was never fond of soap operas. Maybe that’s why the various Arrowverse series got old for me, real fast, and why S&L, at only four seasons, comes out ahead of the pack.

Then, I watched the first season of Time Bandits (Apple TV +). I watched the original Terry Gilliam movie so long ago that I don’t really remember it, but I enjoyed this new adaptation. History nerd Kevin is bullied, and his family doesn’t understand him. When the self-proclaimed Time Bandits enter his room through a portal in his closet, pursued by the Supreme Being (who wants his map back, thankyouverymuch), Kevin is swept away into time travelling adventure, while the bandits try to steal treasures from everywhen they visit. Fun.

Next, I finished Black Cake (Disney +) based on Charmaine Wilkerson’s novel of the same name. Byron and Benedetta (B&B) are estranged but come together when their mother dies of cancer. In a series of pre-recorded statements, the siblings learn that their mother, who they knew as Eleanor, was actually Coventina. As they slowly learn the truth, they begin to work through their own secrets and trauma. I enjoyed it (especially Nine Night and duppies), and I have the ebook, which I’ll now have to read 🙂

The series ended on a cliffhanger as B&B’s recently revealed half-sister begins to listen to her separately-recorded message from Eleanor/Coventina, but Hulu cancelled it, so the book may be the only place I can find out what happens next (!)

I also finished watching the latest season of Only Murders in the Building (Disney +). The gang is excited because an OMitB movie is being made, but it’s not long before they figure out that Sazz, whose murder was revealed in the last moments of last season, is missing. When they find one of her prosthetics in the apartment’s incinerator, they have their next season of the podcast. Charles’ serial killer ex escapes prison, Oliver and Loretta navigate their long-distance relationship, and poor Mabel ends up squatting in a dead guy’s apartment. And, of course, another murder was revealed in the last minutes of the season. Fun, as always.

Then, I watched The Lost City when it was shown on the CTV Scifi channel. It’s been on my list of fun movies to watch for a while, but I haven’t been able to find it on any of the streaming services. I guess it will be on Crave now, but I was happy to have a relaxing evening of enjoyable and undemanding viewing. Sandra Bullock stars as Loretta Sage, a former archeological researcher and reclusive romance author on a book tour with her cover model Alan played by Channing Tatum. When she’s abducted, Alan ropes in former Navy SEAL and CIA operative Jack Trainer (Brad Pitt) to help him rescue Loretta.

Phil and I watched the Doctor Who Christmas special, Joy to the World (Disney +). It was a lovely, sentimental story, and I loved the idea of the time hotel, but the story could have used more Joy in it 🙂 The character was a bit sidelined in the story, but I guess you only have so much runtime to fill, and you have to make cuts somewhere. Watch it and see what you think.

Finally, Phil and I finished watching the third season of Bleach: The 1,000-Year Blood War (Disney +). Yhwach tricks Ichigo into killing the Soul King, though one of the soul reapers sacrifices himself to become the Soul King’s right hand. Various factions of the soul reapers fight various members of the Stern Ritter. At the end, Uryu’s plan to infiltrate the Stern Ritters and stop Yhwach is revealed. He stays to fight Haschwalth, who is endowed with Yhwach’s Almighty while Yhwach sleeps, and sends Ichigo to kill the sleeping Yhwach. One more season to complete the story arc!

My first listen of the month was the Audible Original Goblin Hero, the second in Jim C. Hines’ Goblin Trilogy. The reputation of “Jig the Dragonslayer” draws a desperate ogre to the goblin caves. Pixies have taken over the ogres, literally, and they need Jig’s help. The goblin leader is all for it, wanting to rid herself of Jig and all the goblins who want him to be leader instead of her. And Jig’s not too sad to go, either. Vika, obsessed with the hero’s journey, has been bothering Jig to teach her magic, but he doesn’t know how.

Things get interesting when Vika decides to embark on her own hero’s journey and follows Jig into the heart of rainbow-coloured, mind-controlling, pixie madness. Fun!

Then, I read Legacy, the second in Lois McMaster Bujold’s The Sharing Knife series. Dag and Fawn return to his home, uneasy with their anticipated reception. Dag warned her that it would be more difficult than sorting things out with her family, but Fawn doesn’t realize how hostile the Lakewalkers are until Dag’s brother Dar refuses to recognize their marriage and insists that Dag turn around and deliver Fawn back into the uncaring arms of her family. Things get complicated when Dag has to lead a rescue mission to a northern town overrun by a Malice and it’s mudmen and mind slaves, leaving Fawn to face the hostility of the Lakewalkers alone. Very good.

Next, I read The Heart Forger, the second book in Rin Chupeco’s The Bone Witch series. It’s the continuing story of Tea, The Bone Witch. Each chapter continues Tea’s past adventures as she relates them to the bard she initially compelled to tell her tale and jumps into the present as the bard witnesses what she does as a result of all she learned. A complex plot and intertwined characters. I loved it.

Then, I finished my reread of C.S. Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew. There was a time when I used to read the entire Chronicles of Narnia about once a year, sitting at my desk in the evenings, but it’s been decades since I thought to pick up some of my childhood favourites. As good as I remembered it.

I also read The Shadow Glass by Rin Chupeco, the third book in The Bone Witch series. There seemed to be some issues with bringing the story full circle with the dual timelines and some critical events/information were glossed over toward the end, relying on revelations from the beginning of book one and narrative summaries from earlier in the book to fill in the gaps. It was a bit disorienting, but the author ultimately stuck the landing with a bittersweet ending that was worth it.

I read Kelley Armstrong’s Tales of the Otherworld. This collection so shorter tales focuses more on the Cabal than on the werewolves, but vampires make a couple of appearances, and we get the backstory of how Elena and Clay met and fell in love.

Next, I finished That Hideous Strength, the third in C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy. Having read the full trilogy now, I’d say they’re more in the way of science fantasy than science fiction.

Unlike the first two books, which focus of the adventures of Ransom as he travels first to Mars and then to Venus to fight the evil spirits of the universe, this novel begins with the tale of Mark and Jane Studdock, as Mark, a sociologist and academic, is seduced into the ranks of the NICE. Jane, lonely and rudderless as she tries to orient herself to married life when her husband is so often absent, begins to have visions, which draw her into the community of St. Anne’s.

NICE aims, through eugenics and fascism, to control humanity. Weston, Ransom’s antagonist in the last two novels, is mentioned as a martyr to their cause and other of Weston’s co-conspirators from the first novel have been given new names as they seek to corrupt the social and intellectual foundations of Britain. At St. Anne’s, Jane meets the director, who is, in fact, Ransom, and who has an odd affinity for animals. In a final battle for free will and humanity, Ransom’s people find Merlinus Ambrosius, whom NICE operatives are also seeking. Merlin is sent into the NICE stronghold to disrupt their plans, free their prisoners and animals, on whom they experiment, and lead the internal revolt.

Perelandra, or Venus, comes to take Ransom to his heavenly reward, Mark is freed from the machinations of NICE, and Jane welcomes her wayward husband home. The characters are mostly passive, with the exception of Merlin, but even he is counselled not to murder anyone, but to let them be hoist by their own petards. Not for everyone, but enjoyable.

And that was the month in this writer’s life.

Until next month, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

The next chapter: A month in the writerly life https://melaniemarttila.ca

The next chapter: November 2024 update

/ Melanie Marttila

This bear wants to hibernate.

Snow-covered trees.

Welcome to winter

Life in general

The end of Daylight Saving Time on November 3rd dysregulated me, as it usually does. Regardless of whether we’re gaining or losing an hour, I’m disrupted for a couple of weeks following. Sleep, cognitive processing, everything.

And now we’re entering the dark months of the year and all I want to do is sleep. Northeastern Ontario skies are generally cloudy through the late fall and winter months, so even during the day, the light is dim, and the mood is dreary.

I’m still very much in burnout.

Family issues continue to arise. If it’s not my mom, it’s Phil’s. We’re definitely moving into the caregiver zone.

And I’m moving this topic into the privacy zone. Sorry, not sorry.

I know I said it last month, but things at work really are starting to sort themselves out. I’ve had to step up and mask/extrovert, which is exhausting, but it’s part of the job. It also means I have fewer spoons remaining at the end of the day.

And I suspect the sinus infection is creeping back. Called my doctor to make an appointment—a phone appointment—and got one…next year (!) Such is the state of health care in northeastern Ontario.

So, I’m on my own and hoping to get some advice from a friendly pharmacist to keep this thing to a seasonal sinus flareup and not the 2-to-3-month ordeal it’s been the last three times I had it. The last time, it took three rounds of antibiotics, two nasal sprays, and antihistamines to kick it to the curb.

I thought that using the refills of the nasal spray and antihistamines as a preventative measure was working, but this thing started before I finished the prescription.

I’ve started to use the neti pot again. If nothing else, it helps get the snot out.

Two spruce trees against a blue sky with fluffy, white clouds.

The month in writing

November kicked off with the Wordstock Sudbury Literary Festival from the 1st to the 3rd. You may have seen my wrap up post last month.

Although it was a fabulous event, I was back to not being able to write creatively, poetry or prose, in the wake of it.

But I did apply for a professional development grant to attend next year’s Banff School of Creativity and the Arts Science Fiction Program with Premee Mohamed, Ai Jiang, and Amal El-Mohtar. Oh, my, but do I ever want to go.

And of course, after I submitted, I realized all the errors I’d made.

The edits from the piece of short fiction accepted last month came in and that started to stimulate the old creative instincts. They’re due on December 13th. If nothing else, the deadline will get me going again.

I resumed the re-read of Reality Bomb but had to stop at a particularly narsty chapter and rewrite.

But I was starting to write again. Cue the Snoopy happy dance. Or the flailing Kermit arms. Whichever visualization brings you the most joy.

Until…I wasn’t. Damn these ups and downs. I start getting into the groove and then, the next time I sit down, the words won’t word.

More poetry rejections trickled in and one acceptance for Polar Starlight in 2025. Got that on the 9th.

Also on the 9th, I received an invitation to a Small Press Books event on the 30th of November. It will already have taken place by the time this is posted, but you’ll prolly have seen my posts on SoMe (social media) about it 🙂

And now it can be told! The story I’ve been vague-booking about since August (well, really, since last spring)? It’s called “The Beekeeper,” and it’s in the Exile Editions anthology Through the Portal: Tales from a Hopeful Dystopia. It’s going to be published December 31st! The whole lineup is stellar, and I have several writerly friends to share the table of contents with. I got the news on November 15th.

Pre-order link here. It’s on sale, too!

Filling the well

The new Ivy moon in Scorpio was on the 1st.

Moon pictures will be few for the next four or five months. I’ll be working when it’s light enough to take a picture of the moon during the day and after work, when I walk Torvi, it’s already dark and my camera phone cannot take decent pictures of the moon at night.

The full Beaver or Freezing moon in Taurus was on the 15th. I saw her while taking Torvi out for finals and she was glorious, wreathed in cloud and halo. You’ll just have to take my word for it.

Aside from Wordstock, I had minimal writerly events this month. I needed a break.

On the 30thof last month, I’d registered for “Irresistible First Chapters” with Tiffany Yates Martin. I wasn’t able to watch the replay until November, because life is busy, and I’m still burnt out. Finally got to it on the 10th. TYM always brings the good writerly learnings.

Also on the 10th, I attended the virtual launch of C.L. Carey’s Spaced! on YouTube. It was a fun event and now I have another book for my TBR pile.

I registered for Saeed Teebi’s “Writing the Short Story” webinar on the 16th through the FOLD Academy. I was focusing on recovery that weekend, though, and had to wait until the webinar was posted to the FOLD Academy YouTube channel. I finally watched it on the 26th. Teebi’s process is intuitive and interesting.

Finnish classes continued throughout the month, with the last one on the 25th. Feeling competent.

My support group met on the 27th. The topic was stress management. Much needed, though I don’t know how much of the excellent advice shared during the meeting I’ll be able to implement.

What I’m watching and reading

The first series I finished in November was The Artful Dodger (Disney +). Jack Dawkins escaped from prison, was seconded as a surgeon in the navy, and is now a brilliant (though illiterate—dyslexic?) doctor in Australia. He has gambling debts he can’t pay and the man he owes wants to cut off his hand (!) Fagan finds his way to Dawkins and draws him back into criminal life as a means of paying his debts and saving his medical career.

Enter Lady Belle Fox, the governor’s daughter, who brings a brilliant medical mind of her own, and several innovations, to the hospital where Jack works. She wants Jack to train her to be a surgeon, but she has an ulterior motive which would be a big spoiler to share. And Oliver Twist shows up as a literal plot twist later in the series.

An interesting continuation of a beloved secondary character’s story. It seems like it was only intended to be a limited series, but fans have been asking for more.

Then, I finished all three seasons of Sweet Tooth (Netflix). This is about the get SPOILERY. The first season was about survival. Gus, a hybrid (children who are born with animal attributes, in Gus’s case, antlers), lives with his Pubba in hiding. Hybrid children are being hunted by the Last Men because when the hybrids began to be born, the Sick also appeared, a disease with no cure, killing humans on a massive scale. When Pubba disappears, Gus is left on his own until one of the Last Men comes hunting…then changes his mind. Something about Gus stays his hand. Gus wants to find his mother, Birdie, and won’t leave Big Man alone until he agrees to help. Big Man reluctantly begins to care for Gus. Along the way they meet Becky, AKA Bear, leader of the Animal Army, who defend and protect hybrids. Becky wants to find her sister, a hybrid who was taken from her family when Becky was too young to have done anything to prevent it.

In the second season, the General, leader of the First Men, becomes the main antagonist. He’s rounding up hybrids and has captured a doctor (Singh) who extracts a substance from the hybrids that can prevent the Sick, which his wife has, form progressing. The General wants Singh to make a cure, but Singh eventually realizes that he can’t and is stuck buying time for him and his wife. Gus is captured and with the other hybrids, tries to escape. Meanwhile, Big Man teams up with a zoologist, who has also lost her hybrid kids to the General, and Becky calls in the Animal Army. The General is defeated, and Gus and his compatriots find some important information that might lead them to Birdie.

In the final season, Gus, Big Man, Becky, and her sister, Wendy set off for Alaska, where Birdie is supposed to have gone. Singh, whose wife has left him because he refuses to give up his search for a cure, follows and eventually catches up to them. Gus begins to have visions of a cave. One of the General’s allies, Mrs. Zhang, is determined to wipe out hybrids and save humans, and sets off in pursuit. Becky and Wendy are separated from Gus and Big Man, Singh defects to Zhang’s side, Birdie and then the cave are found, but when Gus finally reaches his destination, Zhang kills Birdie, stabs Big Man, and Singh is about to sacrifice Gus to cure the Sick. There is a final confrontation, but I won’t give everything away 🙂 [Here endeth the spoilery]

Next, I finished all three seasons of Truth Be Told (Apple TV +). In season 1, Oakland journalist Poppy Parnell (Octavia Spenser) restarts the true crime podcast Reconsidered that made her famous and reopens the 1999 murder case of Stanford professor Chuck Buhrman after new evidence suggests Warren Cave, the man she helped put behind bars, was wrongly convicted. Blame shifts through multiple secondary characters, two of whom are the twin daughters of Buhrman, who’ve dealt very differently with their trauma.

In season 2, Poppy investigates the murder of a controversial filmmaker at the request of his wife Micah (Kate Hudson), an equally controversial wellness guru whose friendship with Poppy compromises her judgment. Poppy’s marriage dissolves, and she begins to sort out some of her past trauma in the process of solving the crime.

In season 3, Poppy works with a high school principal (Gabrielle Union) to investigate the disappearances of several young black girls in Oakland whose cases lack mainstream media attention. Poppy’s long-time podcasting partner leaves when Poppy makes a deal with a media sponsor. It’s all tangled up in human trafficking and Poppy changes her last name from Parnell to Scoville when she works through some of her issues with her family.

It was good, twisty storytelling and using a journalist/podcaster as the protagonist made for an interesting perspective and departure from the usual police procedural.

Then, Phil and I watched Deadpool & Wolverine when it started streaming on Disney +. Hilarious and meta and fourth-wall-breaky, it was exactly what we needed after a stressful week.

I finished watching the first season of Supacell (Netflix) and in a rare turn of events, it’s been renewed! It’s the first season of Heroes meets Attack the Block. There’s a sickle cell variant that allows Black people to develop superpowers and a shady organization (unsurprisingly of white people) seeking to train and control them. They’re not just trying to save one person (AKA the cheerleader), but each of the five main characters has a loved one in jeopardy. I enjoyed it and I’m happy I’ll get to see more. I just hope the show doesn’t go the route Heroes did in season 2.

My first listen of the month was another Audible Plus catalogue selection that was due to be removed. In Charles de Lint’s The Wind in His Heart, four lives come together to be changed forever. Thomas Corn Eyes has always seen the spirits, but he wants to see the world beyond the Rez before he takes his place as shaman. Steve Cole faked his death and changed his name to escape his rock star life and live in the desert. Troubled barrio teen Sadie Higgins is abandoned in the desert and is willing to do anything it takes to get revenge and escape the pain of her life. Leah Hardin, Newford blogger, still grieving a friend’s death, heads down to investigate a rumour that Jackson Cole may still be alive.

It’s a lovely tale, entwining myth and mystery, and all four characters find their ways to healing among the Maderas Mountains.

Then, I finished Mike Chen’s A Quantum Love Story. This book is my new comp for Reality Bomb. Mariana Pineda is grieving her best friend and stepsister Shay’s death and ready to quit her job working as a neuroscientist for ReLive, a company that has a process that stabilizes memories. It’s not that the process doesn’t work—she’s had the treatment herself—or that she hates what she does. Shay’s death has uprooted Mariana’s life, and she needs to start over. After she tours the Hawke Accelerator. It would have been Shay’s dream. Shay was a physicist.

At Hawke, Mariana keeps seeing the same man, a technician, everywhere she goes, and when he asks her to go with him, to stand in a particular spot, she’s bemused enough to go along with it. And then a beam of green light strikes her, and she wakes up on Monday morning, four days before. She’s stuck in a time loop.

There’s a lot more to the story, but this novel is so good, I want y’all to read it.

Then, I listened to Great Figures of Latino Heritage by Dr. Khristin Montes. It was another Audible Original and Great Courses collaboration. Though short, Montes covers everything from the Aztec and Inkan empires through to the present day. Excellent.

Another short but 100% fun listen was John Scalzi’s Constituent Service. This is an Audible Original exclusive, that is, the story was written for Audible and will only be available on Audible. Narrated by Amber Benson, Constituent Service tells the tale of Ashley Perrin, who’s starting her first job, post-graduation, as the community liaison for the Third District, where aliens outnumber humans. Immediately, she’s bombarded by noise complaints, transit complaints, a report of alien pets—illegal on Earth for environmental reasons—and a missing chicken. It all comes together in a hilarious conclusion.

Next, I listened to Habits for Happiness at Work, another Tim Sharp Audible Original. Sound advice, but again, not all that neurodivergent friendly.

Then, I finished my reread of Guy Gavriel Kay’s The Darkest Road. As good as I remember it. Heart wrenching. You can really see the seeds of the storyteller Kay becomes in later novels.

I’d pre-ordered Ashley Shuttleworth’s A Wild and Ruined Song earlier in the year and dove in when I received it. I was hooked by the Hollow Star Saga from the first book in the series. The complexity of the worldbuilding is amazing. And the characters even more so. Mostly queer, mostly traumatized, and sufficiently ND-coded that I was stuck to their respective journeys like glue.

I’m not going to say much about the book itself because I think it’s worth reading if you like urban fantasy/masquerade at all. I will note that the final epic battle happens off-page, which might be disappointing to some readers, but the entire series, and this book in particular, includes escalating conflicts, so there are enough physical battles to satisfy even the most bloodthirsty reader. It was a solid conclusion to the series.

Next up was Karen Frazier’s Chakra Crystals. Interesting ideas about using crystals and other stones to heal or balance your chakras. This was more of a curiosity read than a research or personal improvement read, though I’m sure, as an autistic, my chakras are all out of whack.

Then, I listened to Wynonna Earp: Tales from Purgatory by Emily Andras. This collection is a series of short stories that picks up where the series left off. Wynonna and Doc are off on a much-deserved vacation and experience difficulties on their journey, including a head-popping demon. Meanwhile, back in Purgatory, Jeremy, Nicole, Waverley, and the gang deal with demons of their own. A fun listen that reunites the cast for more potty-mouthed sexcapades, supernatural mysteries, and lots of chaos. What else would you expect from Wynonna Earp?

Then, I read Robin Wall Kimmerer’s The Serviceberry. Kimmerer proposes a new economics of giving and reciprocity based on the lessons of the humble berry. Short, but LOVED.

My final listen of the month was Mistletoe Murders 3 by Ken Cuperus. This Audible Original is a slightly guilty pleasure I discovered three years ago when the first in the series came out. It’s actually classified as a podcast, but whatever. I love it. Cobie Smulders voices Emily Lane who runs a year-round Christmas shop in a sleepy little town, is hu-mom to two demanding kittehs, and solves mysteries in her spare time. Cozy, right?

But Emily has a secret past that caught up with her at the end of the last book, when someone from her old life appeared and told her that her high-profile sleuthing had drawn the attention of the shadowy organization she became Emily Lane to escape…just as her relationship with local lawman Sam was starting to heat up. It’s fun. And I love me some Smulders (justice for Maria Hill! IYKYK).

And that was the month in this writer’s life.

Until next month, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

The next chapter: A month in the writerly life. https://melaniemarttila.ca

Cover reveal and pre-order link — New Short Fiction!

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

I’m soo excited to finally be able to announce this!

Last year, my short story “The Beekeeper” was accepted by co-editors Lynn Hutchinson Lee and Nina Munteanu for their Exile Editions anthology Through the Portal: Tales from a Hopeful Dystopia!

It’s available now through the Exile Editions website (linked in the title above) for pre-order at a 15% discount until the official launch date on December 31st, 2024!

Just look at this lovely cover:

Cover of Through the Portal: Tales from a Hopeful Dystopia.
Full cover (front and back) of Through the Portal: Tales from a Hopeful Dystopia.

Hopeful dystopias are so much more than an apparent oxymoron: they are in some fundamental way the spearhead of the future – and ironically often a celebration of human spirit by shining a light through the darkness of disaster. In Through the Portal: Tales from a Hopeful Dystopia, award-winning authors of speculative fiction Lynn Hutchinson Lee and Nina Munteanu present a collection that explores strange new terrains and startling social constructs, quiet morphing landscapes, dark and terrifying warnings, lush newly-told folk and fairy tales.

This is a fascinating collection of all-new, modern-day speculative storytelling, with insightful “Tales from a Hopeful Dystopia” featuring Agata Antonow, Sarah Christina Brown, Mary Burns, K.R. Byggdin, Petra Chambers, Katie Conrad, M.L.D. Curelas, Matthew Freeman, R. Haven, Liam Hogan, Cornelia Hoogland, Vanessa Hua, Jerri Jerreat, Zilla Jones, Katherine Koller, Erin MacNair, Melanie Marttila, Bruce Meyer, Isabella Mori, E. Martin Nolan, Avery Parkinson, Ursula Pflug, Marisca Pichette, Shana Ross, Lynne Sargent, Karen Schauber, Holly Schofield, Anneliese Schultz, Gin Sexsmith, Sara C. Walker, Jade Wallace, and Melissa Yuan-Innes.These authors show us that now, more than ever, our world urgently needs stories about hope.

So thrilled for this next publication and to be sharing the table of contents with so many fabulous author friends!

Wordstock 2024 post-festival wrap-up

/ Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

My first official literary festival appearance and all the other goodies.

Day 1 – November 1, 2024

Poetry Primer – The Bistro 5:30 to 6:30 pm

I showed up a bit early and was seen to the hospitality suite and given my lanyard and swag bag. I got to meet Kelsey Borgford and Alex Tétreault in advance and settle in. We’d exchanged a few emails leading up to the session to let us know how the event would proceed.

It was absolutely lovely. Kelsey wore her beautiful ribbon dress, and we had a smooth and interactive session. People asked questions. We even answered them!

Picture of the Poetry Primer session with Melanie Marttila, Kelsey Borgford, and Alex Tétreault.

And afterward, Kelsey and I signed several books each.

It was awesome.

Festival Opening and Youthwords Announcement – The Bistro 7 to 7:30 pm

Heather Campbell welcomed everyone formally. MP Viviane Lapointe, MPP Jamie West, and the deputy mayor all commented on the importance of Sudbury’s arts community and Wordstock as a part of it. The Youthwords contest winners were announced and were invited to read their pieces.

And Then She Fell: Alicia Elliot in conversation with Shana Calixte Pitawanakwat – Studio Desjardins 7:30 to 8:30 pm

Alicia Elliot was funny and irreverent in her discussion of her latest novel, the writing life, and motherhood.

Amazing.

And Then She Fell: Alicia Elliot in conversation with Shana Calixte Pitawanakwat.

Day 2 – November 2, 2024

Masterclass – Immersive Writing Foray – out and about – 9 to 10:30 am

Ariel Gordon and Yvonne Blomer, after a gathering and brief reading in the Bistro, took us for an urban walk with several stops to pause and write.

I wrote three short pieces and explored a part of the downtown greenspace I hadn’t visited in years. No pictures, because too busy walking or writing.

Writing and Publishing Today – Studio Desjardins – 11 am to 12 pm

Alicia Elliot, John Degen, and Hollay Ghadery discussed writing and publishing in Canada today. A lot of insights from both sides of the industry. Moderated by Randall Perry.

Writing and Publishing Today with Alicia Elliot, John Degen, and Hollay Ghadery. Moderated by Randall Perry.

The Inner World of Women – Studio Desjardins – 1:45 to 2:45 pm

Kim Fahner, Heidi Reimer, and Louise Ells discussed their novels and how their characters explore their inner worlds. Moderated by Liisa Kovala.

The Inner World of Women with Kim Fahner, Heidi Reimer, and Louise Ells. Moderated by Liisa Kovala.

Queer Reflections – Studio Desjardins – 3 to 4 pm

Emily Austin and Kate Cayley discussed their respective bodies of work and how they reflect gender and identity.

Queer Reflections with Emily Austin and Kate Cayley.

Echoes of the Earth – Studio Desjardins – 4:15 to 5:15 pm

Ariel Gordon, Yvonne Blomer, and Sophie Anne Edwards discussed their recent publications and how they explore the environment and climate change from different perspectives.

Echoes of the Earth with Ariel Gordon, Yvonne Blomer, and Sophie Anne Edwards. Introduced by Heather Campbell.

Day 3 – November 3, 2024

Ode to Brunch – The Bistro – 11:30 am to 1 pm

Hollay Ghadery, Fereh Malik, and Emily Austin provided a poetic accompaniment to Brunch, reading from their new and published work and discussing the role of poetry in Canadian publishing today. Moderated by Kim Fahner.

Ode to Brunch with Hollay Ghadery, Fereh Malik, and Emily Austin. Moderated by Kim Fahner.

Big and Important Feelings – Studio Desjardins – 1:15 to 2:15 pm

Danielle Daniel, Kern Carter, and Emily De Angelis discuss their middle grade and young adult novels and the emotional journeys their characters travel. Moderated by Jonathan Pinto.

Big and Important Feelings with Danielle Daniel, Kern Carter, and Emily De Angelis. Moderated by Jonathan Pinto. Introduced by Heather Campbell.

It was an amazing weekend. I learned a lot, met many authors I’d only interacted with online, and, of course, bought a lot of books.

All the books I bought.

This was the festival’s 11th edition. I’ve been to every one so far, and I’ll be returning next year.

The next chapter: October 2024 update

/ Melanie Marttila

Hello, burnout, my old friend…

My grrl, looking gormless and stalwart. She is a great regulator for autisti-mom.

Life in general

I started to see signs of recovery early in the month. The first was this: the revenge procrastination started to ease up. For the last couple of weeks in September, I couldn’t get to bed earlier than 1 am. Some days, it was more like 2 am.

Slowly, it started to shift. 12:45 am, 12:30 am, 12 am, and finally 11:30 pm. The progression wasn’t even, though. I slipped for a few days, popping back up to midnight, got back on track for a few days, and then had a couple of super-late nights. Mid-month, I was back, more or less, to a consistent midnight bedtime.

Things at work are starting to sort themselves out. We’re making progress on the one, time-sensitive project and a few decisions have been made that will make things a bit easier. But I still feel like I’m failing my team most days.

I’ve been taking time off when I feel overwhelmed, and it’s been helping, but I still feel guilty. A lifetime of meeting expectations at cost to myself isn’t easy to shake. By thanksgiving weekend, I started to feel a little better.

Only to slip back down into the well again.

Mom took a tumble on the 28th. She’s okay, though bruised. Phil and I opted to call for an ambulance again because we were concerned that our untrained efforts to help her get up would only result in further injury. But all is well.

The month in writing

I wrote and revised a couple of poems and submitted them to a journal as a way of trying to gently get back into writing mode.

Rejections on my poetry submissions continued to roll in. It’s part of the writing life, but they still sting.

With Reality Bomb, I started to journal/freewrite my way through the climactic chapter. Having roughly mapped it out, I let the words percolate for a bit. I decided to focus on self-care for Thanksgiving weekend. Then I started looking at revisions on a few key scenes.

It’s a pleasant surprise when you read something you’ve written, and you’re not disgusted by it.

Spot revisions turned into a reread. It refreshed a lot of the revisions I’d already done and that I’d forgotten about (!) Not necessarily a good sign, but it means I have some distance from the earlier part of the novel.

On October 3rd, I received a lovely request from a fellow Sudbury author to be her mentor…if her funding application was successful. Unfortunately, her funding application wasn’t successful. I briefly considered giving it a go anyway, but before I acted on the impulse, I sat back and thought about it. I’m not really in a place yet where I think I can be helpful. I need to recover from this burnout first, finish RB, and then I can consider other opportunities.

On the 16th, I received notification that my submission to Pulp Literature’s First Page Cage had made the longlist (!) I honestly didn’t expect to make the finals. The opening of Reality Bomb is kind of quiet 🙂 I was just happy to have made the first cut!

As expected, I didn’t even make the quarter finals. But I received feedback that I can hopefully use to improve the opening.

Then, on the 19th, I received more information about the story accepted for an anthology last year. I hope to be able to share some good news about that soonish.

And on the 22nd, I received another acceptance for a short story I submitted to another anthology in the spring! More news to come once things are formalized.

One of the organizers for the Jabbawong Storytelling Festival in Kagawong reached out to me on the 23rd. There in the early stages of organizing 2025’s festival, but they’d like me to be part of their lineup. So honoured. And excited.

For reasons, some personal, like my burnout, others professional, like the controversies they continue to struggle with, I have decided not to NaNo this year in any form. I track my writing regardless and have come to see the event as more of a burden than a fun challenge.

Filling the well

The new vine moon in Libra was on the 2nd. Watched the annular solar eclipse in South America via Time & Date.

There was a period where the aurora borealis was supposed to be visible, but not here in town. Too much light pollution. There was also comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, but cloud cover and again, light pollution, prevented a sighting here.

The full hunter’s moon in Aries was on the 17th. While I wasn’t able to get a good picture the night of, I nabbed a lovely one the morning after.

Picture of the full moon.

And, of course, Samhain, my birthday, was on the 31st.

In the wake of the last few months, I tried to cut back on creative obligations.

“The delivery of information in fiction,” the last of the Your Personal Odyssey workshops I signed up for, presented by Carrie Vaughn, was on the 6th. Really good information about how to balance showing and telling, particularly at the beginning of a story.

On the 12th was The FOLD Academy’s “Energy is currency: Eight ways to create a more sustainable writing career” with Chelene Knight. Unfortunately, I missed it and will have to wait for the webinar to be posted on their YouTube channel. I did subscribe to Chelene’s podcast though. The webinar was posted on the 18th. Last month, Chelene did a similar webinar for The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) and I really enjoy her philosophy about living a balanced creative life.

“Dealing with the writer demons” with Tiffany Yates Martin was on the 13th. Very good. Tiffany has her new book out, The Intuitive Writer (another on for the TBR), and this was a co-opt of Jane Friedman’s Sunday Sermon in celebration of the release.

I signed up for a Jane Friedman webinar, “Mastering Trauma Scenes to Improve your Memoir” with Lisa Cooper Ellison on the 16th. Because it was during the day, I watched the replay. It was about how to write about your trauma in a way that respects both yourself and your readers. Very good.

In non-writerly events, I started up Finnish class again on Oct 7th. The classes run for eight weeks and will continue through next month. The news is this: I’ve improved! I can actually say a few things in Finnish from memory that are contextually correct in conversation! The ding of achievement has been heard 🙂 Now to work on my pronunciation.

I also attended my support group meeting on the 9th. The topic this month: Abilities vs. expectations. Something I’m struggling with right now.

I had a lovely massage on Oct 2nd. Just the things after two days of back to back to back meetings that kind of drove me crazy.

My semi-annual dental cleaning and checkup was on the 8th. No matter how hard I try, I can’t keep the stains from accumulating around my permanent retainer.

Then, on the 17th, I got my flu and covid vaccine combo, one in each shoulder. And it really hurt this time. Two days of shoulder pain bad enough I had to medicate and a day of feeling crap.

Fortunately, I felt better after those two days of misery.

Back in September, I started taking the antihistamines (30 days worth of pills and 60 of the nasal spray) I had leftover from my long recovery from sinusitis in the spring as a preventative measure. I think it helped ward off the illen this fall. I’m knocking on every wooden surface within reach as I type this.

What I’m watching and reading

After a rough workweek, I engaged in some self-care and watch The Mitchells vs. the Machines (Netflix). Pure joy. I mean, there’s a serious story about a family coming together…to save the freakin’ world! Boom, baby! So weird, but so awesome. I was smiling the entire time.

Then, I watched The Bad Guys (Netflix). Another fun watch. Sam Rockwell voices the protagonist, The Big Bad Wolf, who leads a criminal gang including Snake (his best friend), Shark, Tarantula, and Pirhana. Most of the denizens of this world are human, except for the governor, a fox, and a humanitarian, a guinea pig. Another weird one, but quite fun.

Next, I watched The Boy and the Heron (Netflix). Mahito loses his mother in a fire during the Pacific War. His father marries his mother’s sister, and they seek refuge at her family estate in the country. Mahito is still mourning his mother’s death and distant from his aunt, who is pregnant. A grey heron keeps appearing, and there’s this creepy tower that was built by Mahito’s great grand uncle. That’s the set up and I think I’ll leave it there except to say one more thing, the book that in part inspired the movie, How Do You Live? features as a part of Mahito’s healing journey. It’s not my favourite Miyazaki movie, but it’s damned good.

Then, Phil and I finished watching season 3 of Vox Machina (Amazon). I enjoyed it a lot and they seemed to tie up a lot of loose ends. They defeated Ripley, Thordak, Raishan’s undead monstrosity, and brought Percy back from the dead, though at a cost. Orthax may still be a problem. Even though they’ve all gone their separate ways for now, a fourth season’s been greenlit, so we’ll see more of the gang’s adventures.

Finally, Phil and I watched Agatha All Along (Disney +). Of course we did. One of the best Disney series to come out recently. I loved it. Watch it if you can.

My first listen of the month was the Audible Original production of Charles Dickens’ Bleak House. The more I read Dickens, the better I like his books. All the characters are linked by Jarndyce and Jarndyce, a lawsuit that has entangled generations. John Jarndyce has washed his hands of it and seeks a simple life. He takes in two young cousins whose fortunes have been held in limbo by the lawsuit and hires a young orphan, Esther Summerson as their companion. A man named “no one” dies. Lawyers scheme. A lady with secrets asks a street sweeper to take her to a pauper’s grave. A doctor struggles to save lives. It all comes together, and lives are changed forever when Jarndyce and Jarndyce is finally settled. Excellent.

Then, I listened to The Finnish Guide to Happiness by Melanie Dower. The author moved to Finland nine years ago and shares what she’s learned about life in the world’s happiest country. Very good.

Next, I finished Lois McMaster Bujold’s Beguilement, the first book in The Sharing Knife series. Fawn runs away from home after Sonny refuses to take responsibility for the baby she’s having as the result of a night of fumbling in the fields. En route, she’s taken captive by bandits and saved by Dag, one of the Lakewalkers, erroneously known as necromancers. But then, they’re attacked by a malice, Dag is injured, and Fawn must kill the horror herself, but not before it drains the life from her baby.

There’s some ick factor, so be warned. Fawn is slut shamed by Sonny and her family verbally and emotionally abuses her (no wonder she ran away). Fawn is 18 and Dag is 55. They become lovers, but not without struggle over the age difference (by both Fawn and Dag, as well as everyone who learns of their affections, Lakewalker or otherwise). Aside from the action-packed first act, the rest of the novel focuses on the budding relationship and Fawn and Dag’s trip back to her home, where she confronts her family and Sonny, and she and Dag get married. I enjoyed it, despite the ick.

Then, I listened to The Unappreciated Power of Naps, an Audible Original, by Jade Wu. Lots of good information. It has me reconsidering trying to nap (despite my apparent inability to do so).

I reread Nancy Kress’s Beggars Ride, the third in her Sleepless trilogy. Well, I listened to the audiobook because it was slated to be removed from the Audible Plus catalogue. The Sleepless and the SuperSleepless are now fighting each other, and humanity is caught in the crossfire. As good as I remember it, but Jackson has a boner for every occasion 🙂

The next book I finished reading was K.M. Weiland’s Next Level Story Structure. She focuses on chiastic story structure, moves on to scene structure, and answers a few related questions in the last few chapters. While most of this information has already been posted on her website, Helping Writers Become Authors, she’s revised and refined the information for this writing craft book. Last year, I started purchasing her physical books (I have them all as ebooks). I decided I wanted to have her advice at my fingertips. This one’s joined the collection.

Finally, I listened to Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time. Written in 1976, the novel tells the tale of Consuelo, Connie, who is involuntarily committed by her niece’s pimp after she tries to stop him from beating her niece. In the depths of her despair, Connie is pulled into the future to a socialist utopia where she eventually finds solace from her miserable existence. But then she’s put into an experimental program in which electrodes are inserted into patients’ brains to control their behaviour and the next time she travels into the future, it’s to a dystopia.

The epilogue is Connie’s psychiatric history and brings the entire novel into question. Was she in a psychotic delusion the whole time? Despite the ending, I enjoyed Piercy’s feminist ruminations.

And that was the month in this writer’s life.

Until next month, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

The next chapter: A month in the writerly life. melaniemarttila.ca

The next chapter: September 2024 update

/ Melanie Marttila

Getting back into the swing of things…until the swing breaks.

Picture of a cloudy sky.

Life in general

Even though we’ve had another lovely stretch of warm weather through September, I’ve given up on the idea of swimming this year, for several reasons.

  1. My swimsuit. I haven’t bought a new one since I lost weight and it’s baggy. Baggy enough that it would probably fall off my shoulders while I swim (!) I definitely need a new one but haven’t gotten around to sourcing one yet. Speedo designs have also changed a lot over the years and I’m not sure what would suit—lol—me now.
  2. My rituals in the covid endemic age. Because I continue to work full time, and devote a good portion of the rest of my time to writing, I’m finding it challenging to fit a swim in. I really struggle in the mornings and don’t think I could get up any earlier to swim then, and after work, I often don’t have the spoons to do something that isn’t writing. I’ll have to give it some thought before next June.
  3. I’m far enough away from a beach that it would take a half hour to an hour to walk (depending on which one I go to) there and back, or I’d have to take my car, and there may not be enough parking, particularly on hot summer days. It’s another time sink and ritual adjustment that I have to account for.

Friday the 13th wasn’t kind. My mom was feeling poorly enough that she asked me to call 911 for her after work. After a 20-hour odyssey in the waiting room (during which she did not sleep, eat, or drink anything), seeing a doctor, tests, and a CAT scan, she was observed overnight. In the morning (Sunday) the surgeon called, recommending surgery. I agreed and laparoscopic surgery to repair/remove a bowel obstruction proceeded that afternoon.

So, I had to put a few things on hold.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a few years, you may remember that Mom had a similar surgery in November 2020. It was why we went with the option of an ambulance and agreed with the surgery when it was recommended. The illness that preceded it was familiar.

She was in the hospital until the following Thursday (Sept. 19) when Phil brought her home and life started its slow return to normal.

Work is still a source of stress. Transitioning to a new team is not easy, and doing it in the summer, when vacations mean that half your team is away, just makes it more difficult. I’m starting to get a handle on the projects and hope to feel like I’m making headway soon.

I’m pretty sure I’ve tipped the scales toward burnout.

The month in writing

I focused primarily on the climactic chapter of Reality Bomb when I could, but it eventually became apparent that words were not wording.

I was supposed to meet with Suzy once on the 18th, but Mom’s surgery forced me to postpone.

On September 1st, there was a flurry of activity for the anthology I’ve been included in. For most of August, I’ve been quietly reviewing proofs and the draft contract. On the 1st, I reviewed and signed my contract and reviewed and approved final proofs.

I’ll let you know more when I can. It’s kind of killing me not to be able to share the news.

On the 24th, my Sudbury Writers’ Guild member page went live.

And on the 25th, three of my poems appeared in The /tεmz/ Review! Trauma cluster I, II, and III can be read online. Please be advised that TCIII includes mentions of suicidal ideation. The whole tryptich is dark, so be aware if you choose to read. Take care of yourselves, y’all!

I met with my Dispatches writing group on the 3rd. Always good to catch up and share with writer friends. But then, because Mom, I had to withdraw from the next round of submissions and critiques.

I received another lovely review of The Art of Floating from Ramblings on my Bookshelves on the 11th. So, so grateful for each reader and every review that comes in!

The Wordstock annual general meeting was on the 11th, followed immediately by the Wordstock 2024 lineup announcement and open mic night. There are so many stellar authors in the lineup: Alicia Elliot, Drew Hayden Taylor, Hollay Ghadery, Danielle Daniel, Yvonne Blomer, Ariel Gordon…and the list goes on!

Heather Campbell and Kyla Heyming announcing the 2024 Wordstock Sudbury lineup.

I’m honoured to be in the Poetry Primer session on Friday, November 1st from 5:30 to 6:30 pm with Kelsey Borgford, moderated by Poet Laureate Alex Tétreault. If you’re in the Sudbury area in November, please come out to Place des Arts and take part in Wordstock 2024!

Here’s the link to the Wordstock website where you can look at all the author biographies, download the schedule-at-a-glance, and buy tickets 🙂

On the 19th, Emily De Angelis featured The Art of Floating in one of her five adjective reviews (on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads). She took a break over the summer, but otherwise Emily posts one of these charming, brief reviews every Friday.

Five Adjective Review of The Art of Floating.

In writing business, the SF Canada board met on the 24th. It was a brief, productive meeting.

Filling the well

The new Hazel moon in Virgo was on the 2nd, which was also Labour Day.

The full Corn/Leaves Changing Colour moon in Pisces and partial lunar eclipse was on the 17th. I watched the Time & Date coverage of the eclipse in various parts of the world where the eclipse was more pronounced and walked to the window to watch the wee nibble of shadow on the moon here. The moon was distinctly orange in the days leading up to the full.

And the autumnal equinox fell on the 22nd this year. I did my usual altar-lighting and contemplated the changing of the seasons.

Writing-related events started to ramp up again. I’d signed up for that series of Odyssey workshops last month and they continued through September. I also signed up for several Clarion West Workshops. And there were several book launches and events to attend.

On the 8th, I attended the Odyssey workshop “Point of View” with Paul Park. Solid writerly learnings.

On the 10th, I attended “playing with Perspective” with David Ly, a poetry workshop through the League of Canadian Poets. Since it was during the workday, I audited, but the workshop was verra interesting. I’ll have to work through it on my own time.

That same night was “Avoiding Common Science Pitfalls in Your SF with Ashley Christine, the first of the Clarion workshops I signed up for. Lots of science-y fact checking for worldbuilding and plotting.

Then, on the 12th, Rod Carley launched his latest novel, Ruff, at Place des Arts. It was lovely to meet Rod in person (we’ve only ever interacted online).

Rod Carley is conversation with Marcus Schwabe.

The 13th through the 15th was the DIY MFA Author Life Summit. Because that was also when my mom had her surgery, I just watched the sessions I was most interested in.

The next week, on the 19th, Kim Fahner launched her debut historical novel, The Donoghue Girl. Kim’s launches are always events. She invites musician friends to play, sings a couple of Irish songs, and then does a reading or two. This time, she asked Judi Straughan to interview her and livestreamed the event for out-of-town friends and fans. Her dress was absolutely gorgeous. Fabulous night!

Kim Fahner in conversation with Judi Straughan.

That weekend, I attended the virtual launch of Sara Letourneau’s debut poetry collection, Wild Gardens. Sara was a contributor to DIY MFA at the same time I was, and she was also one of the book coaches I considered before deciding on Suzy. I wanted to support a fellow debut poet.

The same evening, I attended the 2024 Anne Szumigalski Lecture, “Call and Response,” presented by Titilope Sonuga. Amazing presentation!

On the 22nd, Terese Mason Pierre presented the Clarion West Workshop “Discovering Speculative Poetry.” Loved! Generated some great ideas.

On the 27th was “Molecular Description” with Escher McDonell-Maulsby. I have to watch the session again. It. Was. Stellar!

Then, on the 28th, I attended an all-day virtual retreat, “All About Fantasy” presented by Bianca Marais and featuring lectures and workshops by authors Tomi Adeyemi, Amber Chen, and Andrea Hairston, agents Mary C. Moore and Elizabeth Hitti, and editor Saana Ali-Virani. There was so much writerly goodness going on, it’s another event I have to watch again.

Finally, on the 29th, I attended “The Business of Writing” with Arly Sorg, another Odyssey workshop. Excellent.

In non-writerly events, I attended “The Wisdom of the Witch” with Phyllis Curott. I have two of her books on witchcraft and was curious to hear her present. It was a good presentation and guided ritual.

On the 3rd, I picked up my new orthotics and glasses. It’s so nice to be more comfortable walking again and to be able to see better. I did need a tweak in my prescription.

Picture of glasses.
The picture doesn’t capture the colours. Pink and burgundy with gold-toned metal. Looks rose-gold.

What I’m watching and reading

I finally watched Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (Crave). It was fine, and I did enjoy the performances, but overall, it suffered from the same issue many prequels fall prey to: viewers know where the story is heading. And while it was interesting to see Furiosa’s backstory, it really had little impact on the events of Mad Max: Fury Road. I really didn’t see the point of it. If they were books, I’d almost say combine the two, interweaving the past and present timelines, but I guess that wouldn’t have worked as well as a movie.

Phil and I zoomed through KAOS (Netflix). It’s an alternate reality in which the Greek gods still exist and what we think of as mythic stories play out in the modern day. Zeus (Jeff Goldblum) is obsessed with his prophecy—the Fates give everyone a prophecy at their birth—and is getting increasingly unstable. Hera and Poseidon are having an affair, Hades and Persephone are having a rough go (spoilers, if I tell you with what), most of Zeus’s children aren’t speaking to him except for Dionysus, who wants to do more than party all the time, and Prometheus has a plan, having to do with his own prophecy, to get out of his eternal punishment.

Enter the mortals. Eurydice, “Riddy,” is falling out of love with Orpheus, the rock star who obsesses over her as his muse. When Riddy dies and Orpheus is determined to rescue her from the Underworld, you think you know how the story goes (but you’d be wrong). Caeneus died but cannot enter The Frame. He must work in the Underworld until he earns his right to cross over. He and Riddy discover a conspiracy and begin to fall in love, as the dead do. Ariadne, “Ari,” has lived with the burden of having killed her twin Glaucus in their infancy. Riddy, Caeneus, and Ari all have critical roles to play in bringing about Zeus’s prophecy, freeing Prometheus, and bringing about the downfall of the gods.

This just touches the surface. It was an amazing show with awesome actors and ended on a cliffhanger. Phil and I are hoping Netflix doesn’t cancel the series, as they have with so many others we’ve loved (RIP Lockwood and Co. and Dead Boy Detective Agency).

Then, I finished watching Dark Matter (Apple TV) based on the novel by Blake Crouch that I read last month. So, here is the comparison I promised, and be warned [HERE BE SPOILERS]. Avoid if you want to read the book or watch the series without the benefit on my completely biased opinion 🙂

The plot is roughly the same between the novel and the series. Jason Dessen, college professor of physics, lives in Chicago with his wife Daniela, and their son, Charlie. After celebrating his neuroscientist friend Ryan’s win of a prestigious science award, he is abducted and drugged, waking up in what looks like a laboratory medical facility. Eventually, he figures out that he is in another world in which he decided to pursue the development of a prototype he once created, the Cube, which allowed a particle to exist and be observed in superposition without collapsing its waveform into one state or the other. The Cube has become the Box, which allows people to exist in superposition and choose the state, in this case world, they want to exist in. He realizes that this world’s Jason (forthwith called Jason2) regretted his decision not to marry Daniela and have Charlie.

Jason escapes with the lab’s psychiatrist, Amanda, and the two journey through multiple harrowing worlds before they figure out how the Box works. Amanda leaves Jason, and after a period of despair, Jason finally finds his world. But hundreds of Jasons have come into being in the Box, with every decision made and every world visited. And they’ve all come to Jason’s world seeking to reclaim their family from Jason2. What ensues is a farcical thrill-ride in which Jason avoids being killed by his numerous other selves, convinces Daniela and Charlie that he is their “real” Jason, escapes to a remote and unoccupied vacation home where Jason2 and a gang of his other selves track him down, manages to kill Jason2, and kill or avoid the rest of his others, returns to Chicago and the Box, where hundreds of other Jasons wait. There is more fighting, but most of the Jasons just want Daniela and Charlie to be safe and happy and make it possible for protagonist Jason to escape into the box with his family.

The first difference is that, in the novel, Daniela notices that there is something different about Jason, but it’s all good. He’s a more attentive husband and father. So, when protagonist Jason returns at the end of the novel, Daniela and Charlie illogically and immediately trust him.

The series fixes this in several ways. First, series-Charlie has a twin, Max, who died shortly after they were born. Every year, the family hold a memorial for Max. Jason2 misses this significant observance because he’s off trying to bilk an old friend out of millions by showing him how the Box works and sending him on his way. Then, Charlie has a severe allergy to nuts and Jason2 gives him ice cream with nuts in it, setting off anaphylactic shock. And Jason2 doesn’t know how to use Charlie’s EpiPen.

After this, Daniela grows suspicious and confides in Ryan. Ryan discovers that Jason2 somehow has a drug that Ryan is secretly developing. He confronts Jason2, who kind of confesses and takes Ryan into the Box, trapping him in another world. Jason2 then seals the Box in concrete (also filling another plot hole from the novel, where Jason2 leaves the Box open and unprotected throughout) to keep anyone he’s sent into its quantum maze from returning to this world. But when Jason2 becomes a suspect in Ryan’s disappearance, he breaks the concrete, finds another world’s Ryan and brings him back to halt the investigation.

Whew! This is already a lot.

In the novel, Amanda sneaks off while Jason sleeps, leaving him a note. Is the series, they visit a world that is a utopia compared to ours and she decides to stay.

In the novel, Jason2 tracks Jason and his family to the remote vacation home where they are hiding, changes clothes with Jason, and then Daniela and Charlie show up to witness their fight to the death (but who’s the real Jason?!). In the series, Jason2 is held hostage by another of the Jasons and learns what the other Jasons have suffered because of him. He still tracks Jason to the vacation home, but he does it to make up for the wrong that he’s done, gifting Jason with the means to use the Box to escape to another world with Daniela and Charlie. He also gives them Max’s ashes to take with them. Then, he stays behind to deal with the other Jasons.

Finally, the series provides a better denouement. Ryan is in Amanda’s utopian world, and they meet. Jason’s billionaire friend is having the time of his life, and we see Jason and his family enter another world, but we don’t know which one, though the light shining through the door seems to imply that it is the same utopian world Amanda chose to stay in.

By now, you’ve probably deduced that I liked the series better than the novel. Sometimes, an adaptation—if the author of the novel is involved—can provide opportunities for the author to make the changes they wished they’d been able to make before the novel was published. Or the adaptation demands changes that improve the story. [Here endeth the spoilers!]

Next, I finished the first season of Shogun (Disney +). I honestly can’t remember much of the original mini-series starring Richard Chamberlain and I never read the book, but I enjoyed this series. The actors were excellent. And I didn’t even mind the tactful absence of subtitles in the first few episodes. Suitably epic.

I watched Inside Out 2 when it was released on Disney +. Charming, sweet story about what happens when Riley hits puberty and a whole group of new emotions take over. The principle takeaway is that emotions don’t get to determine who Riley will be. It’s a lesson that Joy and Anxiety both have to learn.

My first book of the month was a The Great Courses and Audible Original collaboration. Victorian Animals in Literature and Culture by Deborah Morse considers the works of Anna Sewell (Black Beauty), Margaret Marshall Sanders (Beautiful Joe), Virginia Woolf (Flush), Beatrix Potter, Sir Arthur Connan Doyle, and Ernest Thomas Seaton. Morse brings the conversation into the 21st century with a discussion of Karen Joy Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. The book includes discussion not only of animal welfare and rights, but also slavery, disability, social justice, and more. I was impressed and touched. An excellent listen.

Then, I finished reading The Stones of Burren Bay by Emily De Angelis. Loved! Norie (short for Honoria) can only bear witness as her beloved grandmother dies. When her father—always angling for a way to make money—wants to sell the antique artist’s box her grandmother left to her, Norrie protests. Unfortunately, he doesn’t tell her until he’s driving Norie and her mother to meet the buyer, and the resulting argument leads to a car fiery crash that kills her father and seriously injures Norie and her mother.

Of course, Norie blames herself. Norie’s journey is one of spiritual healing and reconciliation that takes place in a lovely lighthouse museum on Manitoulin Island among people who become Norie’s new “found” family. A second timeline runs through the novel in reverse chronological order detailing Oonagh’s journey from Ireland to the same Manitoulin lighthouse where her father was to be keeper and the fire that takes her life. Yes, I know the author, but I would have loved the book every bit as much even if I didn’t. Highly recommend.

Next, I read Mirrored Heavens, the third book in the Between Earth and Sky series by Rebecca Roanhorse. This is one of those books that to say anything of the plot automatically means spoilers. So, I won’t get into it except in very general terms. Serapio now rules Tova, but enemies are amassing on two fronts to take back the city. Xiala returns to Teek and has to defeat a warlord come to enslave her people. Naranpa travels north to a fabled graveyard that may be the key to mastering her powers as the sun god’s avatar and saving Tova from a fiery fate. Shifting alliances, political intrigue, betrayal, and sorcery. All the good things. Loved, though I did want a better ending for Naranpa. Just saying.

Then, I listened to A Beginner’s Guide to Numerology by Joy Woodward. I first encountered numerology years ago when I read Linda Goodman’s Star Signs. Goodman focused on Chaldean/Hebrew numerology, however. Woodward presents Ptolemaic numerology, and it’s a more straightforward, but more complex system of divination. I rediscovered an old special interest and had fun calculating various numbers. Since it’s all basic addition, it’s super easy.

Next, I read The Book of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville. I hadn’t read a Miéville novel yet, though they’re on my TBR list. Not having read the BRZRKR comics on which the novel’s based, I wasn’t familiar with the specific context, though I do know of other series that deal with immortal warriors.

These day’s, he’s simply known as B but, over the aeons of his existence, he’s been called Unute, and Death. This last is pertinent, because he does tend to go into a true berserk rage, which even his allies can’t escape. It’s gotten so bad that some of his black-ops colleagues have attempted to kill him. And that was before a shadowy cabal actively began to subvert them. When one of his dead (like half-his-head-blown-off dead) colleagues comes back to life, it starts a whole series of events that culminate in a confrontation between B and the children of other gods. It was a great, if challenging read.

My next listen was Susan Cain’s Audible Original, Seven Steps to a Quiet Life. Narrated by the author, this was a short and sweet look at life, finding your purpose, moving through difficult life events and grief, seeking oneness, and having compassion for your fellow beings. Lovely.  

And that was the month in this writer’s life.

Until next month, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

The next chapter: A month in the writerly life https://melaniemarttila.ca

The next chapter: August 2024 update

/ Melanie Marttila / 3 Comments

Starting a new position at the day job—is a change really as good as a rest?

A bee in the jewelweed.

Life in general

The month started with another heat wave (our fourth?) and it was so hard just dealing with the heat.

After the humidex reaches 36 Celsius, the air is the same temperature as your body. There’s no way for you to cool down. You just sit and sweat to no avail. And then heat edema swells your hands and feet to the point where you can’t remove jewelry or fit comfortably into your shoes.

The only respite is the portable AC unit in the bedroom but, even at full power, it struggles to get the temperature below 20 Celsius. And the relief is temporary because, even with all the windows open and all the ceiling fans on, the coolish (often still 20 Celsius or above) night air can’t bring the inside temperature below 24 Celsius and you emerge from the (comfortable, if not cool) bedroom into a wall of heat.

Fortunately, after the 4th, the weather, while still hot, moderated, and the evenings got cooler with the slow reduction of daylight hours. We had to use the AC a few more times, and there was another spell of heat toward the end of the month, but it’s been a lovely month, overall.

Despite the heat, I’ve really been enjoying this summer. I’ve been wanting to go swimming since I took that dip in Lake Simcoe in June but haven’t made it to the beach yet. Dang autistic inertia.

On the 6th, I started my new position on a new team. It was a bit of a chaotic first week with a new working group, and an urgent assignment, but I kept my head and made sure to regulate. My new team lead is on vacation for the month, so I’m helping out with other projects, much like I was in the last month on my former team.

I’m learning that my new team is a little bit of chaos in general, and all the projects we’re tackling are subject to change with no defined timelines. I’m going to have to get used to tolerating ambiguity.

The month in writing

With the enforced break/disruption last month, I was eager to get back to Reality Bomb. I’m in sight of the finish line and it’s so frustrating not to be crossing it!

I met with Suzy on the 29th. It was a lot of the same issues that I mentioned last month. Revision that Suzy hasn’t seen necessitating explanation. The need to either add action to or compress slow scenes. But now I’m moving onto the climax (!) and feeling nervous.

I also continued to work on a CNF piece for an anthology call and submitted some more poetry.

The rejections on last month’s poetry submissions began to roll in as well.

But … I received notification of an acceptance on August 28th! W00t! Will share on social media when I can 🙂

The Dispatches writing group met on the 6th. It was lovely to chat with like-minded Canadian authors and discuss our work.

On the 8th, a video I’d recorded for the periodicities virtual reading series was posted to YouTube. It won’t be posted to the journal’s site until there are five of us, so that will have to wait for a bit, but if you want a sneak peek (and to critique my crappy captioning skills), just toddle on over here.

Over the weekend of the 10th and 11th, I cleared out a whole pile of email. I entered a couple of poetry contests, reviewed a story proof, submitted The Art of Floating to the Canadian Authors Association’s Online Member Book Catalogue, and submitted the first two pages of RB to Pulp Literature’s First Page Cage.

My big event of the month was the Second Annual Greater Sudbury Roving Outdoor Book Fair on Sunday August 25th from 2 to 5 pm at the Copper Cliff Complex Gazebo. It was a hawt afternoon, but I purchased a table and sunshade. I should have thought to bring some cold water or pop, but I’ll know better next time. I read some of my poetry, listened to others read (and sing!) and generally enjoyed myself.

While I didn’t move any copies of The Art of Floating, I did sell two NeoVerse, which basically allowed me to break even given the participation fee but not considering the outlay for the table and sunshade. I’m sure I’ll make use of those at future events.

On the 28th, I was advised that my entry in the CAA Online Member Book Catalogue was live.

I did some administrivia for the SF Canada board on the 1st and set up a PO Box for professional writing-related things (like my Substack newsletter, which requires an address displayed in every issue).

Filling the well

Lughnassadh was on the 1st. Unfortunately, the heat prevented me from lighting up my altar until the weather cooled. Candles produce a surprising amount of heat (!).

My lughnassadh altar.

The new Holly moon was on the 4th. I was doing a good job in July of tracking the waxing moon in the afternoons (in pictures), and then the waning, but the sun was so bright and the sky so clear, there was no chance for me to track the moon a week out from the new.

I kept up the waxing picture trend in August until a sting of rainy days leading up to the full Sturgeon/Ricing moon on the 19th.

Writing events were super light this month, for which I was grateful.

The League of Canadian Poets (LCP) Member Appreciation Week open mic took place on the 8th.

I signed up for an Authors Publish webinar with Emily Harstone about querying and publishing on the 14th. It was during the day, and I watched the replay.

I went out to visit Emily De Angelis at her book signing at Chapters on the 17th. I’d already bought the book and had it signed at her Launch but, having had my own signing experience, I wanted to show my support. And I got a chance to see the rearranged store and their lovely new local authors’ shelf.

And, since I’ve applied for Your Personal Odyssey every year since its inception, I was able to sign up for a series of YPO Workshops, the first of which took place on the 18th. It was good and even referenced some of my favourite K.M. Weiland posts.

And I attended the virtual launch of Contemporary Verse 2 (CV2) on the 29th. One of my Dispatches writing group members read her poem from the issue.

In non-writing events, there was a CAMH session on Sleep and Mental Health: REM Sleep Disorders on the 15th. It made me wonder if I have an REM disorder, because I have had various parasomnias throughout my life.

In personal care, I saw my optometrist for my bi-annual eye exam on the 23rd. I’ve been looking over or under my glasses (or taking them off altogether) when reading. So, I have a new prescription and I’m getting new frames. They’re something a little different for me (i.e., not purple).

And I had my orthotics assessed on the 27th. In the spring, I noticed some uneven wear in my shoes. I got new ones, but the discomfort I felt in my feet never went away. So, I’m getting new orthotics, too.

I took Torvi for her last Furminator of the summer on the 2nd. She’s pretty much done with the major shed of the year. This last was just to help her feel more comfortable in the heat of the summer.

And I attended a friend’s 50th birthday cruise on the 30th. It was a lovely evening.

What I’m watching and reading

I watched the second season of House of the Dragon (HBO). This just reminds me how much I enjoyed the early seasons of Game of Thrones. Loved. After Luke’s brutal death at the end of season 1, I was expecting things to escalate. Still, I was shocked by Blood and Cheese (and felt so sorry for Cheese’s poor wee terrier), wigged out by Daemon’s visions in Harrenhal, horrified by all the dragon carnage, and left both eager and dreading what the next season brings.

Then, I finished Cloak and Dagger (Disney +). I’d wanted to see the series when it originally aired, but ABC Spark was not available to us at the time. So, I watched the two seasons when it was added to Disney + (along with al the other Marvel TV and Netflix series). Not what I remember from the comics, but it wasn’t too bad.

On the recommendation of a friend, I watched The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (Amazon). Based on Operation Postmaster, the movie fictionalizes an unauthorized operation to disrupt German U-Boat supply lines, which would allow American troops to join the war in Europe. Fun action. Very entertaining. A Guy Ritchie jam, if you have any feelings about that.

Then, Phil and I watched the fourth and final season of The Umbrella Academy (Netflix). The season was short (only 6 episodes) and I wondered how they were going to pick up from the end of last season, when the ‘brollies had all lost their powers. Unfortunately, they found a box of random stuff from other timelines, including a full jar of “marigold,” the substance that endowed them with their powers in the first place. There was a lot of random happening in this season.

And I can’t say that the ending was satisfactory. Yes, the release of the marigold into the world set everything on the road to annihilation, but it would have been nice to have a resolution that didn’t erase the main characters, and therefore the point of watching the show in the first place. It was very much “and then they woke up.” The wee marigolds under the tree were no consolation.

Next, I finished the latest season of Bridgerton (Netflix). I enjoyed Penelope’s arc finding love with Colin while having to navigate the whole Lady Whistledown mess (the harm she’s caused, principally). But I found the writers tried to cram too much into this season and felt that if they cut some of the subplots (e.g., Benedict’s experimentation with bisexuality, while there was nothing wrong with it, contributed nothing to the larger story) they could have focused more on developing the main stories.

The last episode felt rushed. In one inspired move, Penelope rescues her family from the loss of their title, foils Cressida’s attempt to blackmail her, mollifies Queen Charlotte, and comes out to everyone as Lady Whistledown—at her sisters’ ball. There is an ending montage with a time jump at the end of which we see the three nee Featherington babies, Penelope’s the only boy (and therefore heir to the rescued title). It could have used two more episodes, or the pruning of unnecessary subplots, or both, to tie everything up neatly.

Then, I watched the first season of Orphan Black: Echoes (AMC). I was happy to see Krysten Ritter in another series, and the premise seemed promising: a woman wakes up with no memory of who she is, escapes the apartment she’s been locked into, and discovers it’s a set within a huge industrial space. Exploring further, she encounters a vat of goo out of which a body surfaces. She runs. I would too.

But then, it’s revealed that the scientist who developed the biotechnology to print viable human clones is none other than Kira Manning, daughter of Sarah Manning, the protagonist of the original Orphan Black. And why does she do it? Because she’s trying to recreate her wife, who died of Alzheimer’s. After what she’d been through as a child, she should have known better. The series even hangs a lampshade on it. Multiple times. And I was like, come on.

The first season ended with episode seven in a series of cliffhangers, and I thought, this isn’t the end, is it? But it was. A second season hasn’t yet been approved, but if AMC can greenlight a second season of The Mayfair Witches, they can greenlight a second season of OB:E. I’m just saying.

Next, I watched both seasons of We Are Lady Parts (Amazon/Stack TV). Loved! A three-piece punk band of Muslim women seek a lead guitarist. Amina is a young guitarist who makes a living teaching lessons while she finished her degree in biochemistry. It seems a match made in heaven, except Amina has performance anxiety so bad she projectile vomits.

The show was reminiscent of Ms. Marvel, in that Amina, and then the other characters as the series progresses, tend to narrate their lives and internal monologues, sometimes with surreal special effects.

My first read of the month was Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. This is pretty much my ideal comp for RB, but it’s technically too old (2016). I’m hoping that the Apple TV series (which I’m watching now) will be sufficient to keep it relevant.

In the novel, Jason Dessen is happily married, has a son, and teaches physics at a local college. He gave up his research into superposition and his wife gave up her career as an artist, when they married. Jason’s best friend receives a prestigious award for his work in neuroscience and after Jason attends the party, he is abducted at gun point by a masked man, taken to an old warehouse, and drugged.

When he wakes, he’s in some kind of research facility, surrounded by people he doesn’t know, but who seem to know him. Eventually, Jason figures out that he’s in another world where he made the decision to continue his research instead of marrying his wife, and that the version of him from this world, having achieved the pinnacle of his success, regretted that decision and decided to change places.

The book gets wild from there, and I do have a couple of cavils with the climax and denouement, but it’s a very good SF thriller. I’ll do a little side-by-side of the novel and its adaptation once I’ve finished the series.

Then, I returned to Dr. Tim Sharp and his Audible Original series. This one was Habits for Greatness, in which he gleans 30 lessons for greatness from the great philosophers, psychologists, religions, movements, and fictional characters. He then turns them into habits that can be applied in daily life.

My next read was Mercedes Lackey’s Oathblood. Although it’s noted as the third book in the Vows and Honor series, it’s a collection of short stories and one novella (novelette?) about Tarma and Kethry, with contextual notes from the author. The first story is how Tarma and Kethry met and bonded. The next couple of stories were parts of the first two novels (I thought there was something episodic about them). The last stories and novella are further adventures, and the novella is set in Tarma and Kethry’s school—yes, they finally establish one—and features Kethry and Jadric’s growing brood of younglings. Verra enjoyable.

Then, I finished reading Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. It’s interesting to get to know the lives of the writers you only know from their works. A compelling story, well-written.

Back to Tim Sharp again, this time with Habits for Action, which is all about eliminating your excuses for doing the things you “know you should.” Demand avoidance immediately set in, and I was like, “he’s shoulding all over everyone.” And his strategies are all firmly allistic. Minimal value in this one.

Next, I read Rivers Solomon’s An Unkindness of Ghosts. Again, it feels like a perfect comp title for RB for the neurodivergent protagonist in science fiction. Unfortunately, it’s too old for most agents to consider.

Aster is a neurodivergent biologist and doctor aboard a generation ship headed for “the promised land.” Unfortunately, life on the Matilda resembles that of the antebellum south, and Aster, along with the rest of the residents of the lower decks work as sharecroppers, producing food for the ship, maintenance workers, and any other work the upper decks deem beneath them.

But Aster’s been trying to solve the riddle of her absent mother’s journals and when, with the help of a friend, she begins to decipher them, she learns that there may be a way off the ship…if she can avoid the sovereign’s persecution and a nascent civil war. Excellent.

My next non-fiction read was The Beginner’s Guide to Runes by Josh Simonds. It was interesting. Simonds is a professional psychic who traces his lineage back to the Plantagenets. The guide is comprehensive, including the history and mythology of the runes, how to create your own, the magical uses, throws, spreads, and more. And he finishes up with a list of resources that I’m probably going to check out. One warning, though: the traditional method for creating and some uses for the runes involve blood. It’s optional, but still. If it’s not your thing, just be warned. Though Simonds does recommend using proper medical supplies and having a first aid kit on hand, every mention of the use of blood kind of struck me as weird.

Finally, I read Micaiah Johnson’s Those Beyond the Wall, her sequel to The Space Between Worlds. The first novel was Cara’s story, the traverser who took down the Eldridge Corporation that employed her. This novel is about one of the side characters in the first novel, Devon, daughter of the emperor of the wasteland.

Devon is now Mr. Scales, a mechanic and runner in the current emperor, Nik-Nik’s, service. When her beloved friend dies in a twisted heap in her arms with no apparent cause, Scales sets out to solve the mystery. People in both Ashtown and Wiley City have died in this way, and each blames the other. Now Scales is trying to stop a war, and the possible annihilation of her people as well. There’s a lot more to it, but I will say no more, cause y’all gotta read this. Excellent.

And that was the month in this writer’s life.

Until next month, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

The next chapter: A month in the writerly life melaniemarttila.ca

The next chapter: July 2024 update

/ Melanie Marttila

Helluva thing, returning to work …

Love me a dynamic sky.

Life in general

Though my first week back was only three days and most of it was sorting through six weeks worth of email, dealing with systems issues, and generally getting used to my 8:30 to 4:30 work schedule again, it was a rough transition, because transitions are hard.

The next week was better, in part because I received my letter of offer. My acting instructional designer position is confirmed to start August 6th (after the civic holiday long weekend in Canada). In the meantime, I will have a number of small projects to keep me occupied, mostly helping other members of my team and bringing my high detail orientation to bear.

But then, on the 13th, my mother-in-law fell and had to go to the hospital to be assessed. The doctors kept her at HSN until the following Wednesday. She’s home and well and, as of the end of July, waiting for physio and a home assessment for potential accessibility measures.

Then we find out if the recommended accessibility measures will be supplied and installed or if we’ll have to purchase and install them. We don’t know if the apartment manager/owner will commit to some measures (e.g., a walk-in shower instead of a tub).

In nature news, I forgot to mention last month that the linden trees and sumac were in bloom. This month, all the trees are setting fruit. The mountain ash berries will be orange until the first frost hardens them. Flowers are still happening, but they’re mostly in gardens.

The blueberries are small, but I love the smell of the sweet fern that likes to grow nearby.

Our berry patch has not produced this year, but Phil did transplant all the raspberries in the fall. We may have to wait another year for the plants to recover fully.

With the heat (yes, there have been more heatwaves), the monster rhubarb is suffering, but our tomatoes a doing great (and taste delicious).

I saved my clematis (a jackmanii) from getting lost in the weeds and trained it back on its trellis. But that about all I managed in the overgrown garden. Daylilies are blooming, and our hostas are huge, though the ferns are not thriving.

The month in writing

My primary goal was, once again, revisions on Reality Bomb. But I also have some poetry submissions to prepare and another creative non-fiction piece to start writing for an anthology call.

The group from the Dispatches from the World course I took with Ariel Gordon last month has decided to continue to work together. We now have a Facebook group, and I submitted a portion of a story I’ve been trying to fix for the last couple of years. We’ll meet for the first time in August by Zoom.

I met with Suzy on the 4th. We’re getting to the exciting part of the novel now, but there’s a disconnect between the novel as I revise it and what Suzy’s seen to date. So, most of our session was really about me explaining how I’m foreshadowing the stuff she hasn’t seen before.

Our second meeting was deferred when my mother-in-law fell.

On July 1st, I trotted over to Science North to help person the Sudbury Writers’ Guild table at the Canada Day celebration there.

On July 4th, All Lit Up included The Art of Floating in their reading list for #DisabilityPrideMonth! So honoured to have my work featured among some of my favourite authors. And now I have even more (moar!) books for my TBR pile.

Over the weekend of the 6th, I firmed up arrangements for a table and readings at the Greater Sudbury Roving Outdoor Book Fair, taking place Sunday August 25th from 2-5 pm. It’ll be in Copper Cliff this year, at the Copper Cliff Complex Gazebo on Godfrey Drive (across from Bryston’s).

Then, on the 11th, Cait Gordon posted this lovely interview about The Art of Floating on the Spoonie Authors Network.

I also had a SF Canada Board meeting on the 6th. It was thunder storming on the day and the power had already gone out twice, but we managed to have the meeting without too many issues.

Filling the well

The new oak moon in Cancer was on the 5th. Partly cloudy to rainy all day. Not that one can “observe” a new moon, but, ya know, I would be nice to have a clear nice for general observation. Despite the light pollution here in the city, a new moon means better viewing of the stars …

The full Buck moon in Capricorn (second in a row!) was on the 21st.

Minimal writerly events this month.

I was hoping to go to the Jabbawong Literary Festival in Kagawong on Manitoulin Island, but it was the same weekend as the Northern Lights Festival Boreal (NLFB) where Latitude 46 would have a table. I also had the SFC BoD meeting on the Saturday. I was torn, because I really wanted to pitch myself for next year’s Jabbawong, but autistic inertia and demand avoidance kind of made the decision for me. After my first week back at work (a short week, yes, but a workweek nonetheless), I decided not to go to either Jabbawong or NLFB and attend the board meeting. Conserving spoons, y’all!

But I was so grateful for all the messages from friends who bought a copy of TAoF at NLFB!

On the 11th, I signed up for an online reading and discussion with Annalee Newitz about her new book, Stories Are Weapons, through the Argo Book Shop in Montreal. Fascinating. Another one for the TBR pile.

On the 18th, I attended a Canada Council for the Arts webinar on applying for the Explore and Create grant. I’ve only applied once for this grant so far and was not successful. I hoped to get some tips and tricks for improving my chances next time.

Later the same day, the League of Canadian Poets (LCP) launched their summer chapbook series.

Finally, I attended another Mary Robinette Kowal webinar on “Writing through Fatigue” on the 28th. Every time, I learn something new and useful. I can’t recommend her courses enough.

In non-writing events, I registered for the virtual component of the Desiring Autism and Neurodivergence Symposium at Queen’s University from the 23rd to the 25th. A lot of interesting insights into the decolonization of education, Indigenous and 2SLGBTQIA+ intersectionality, and accommodations in the current context.

I had my follow up with my doctor on July 2nd. It was anticlimactic. The infection is gone, and I have meds and neti pot in reserve in case it seems like things will rebound. The nurse was happy with me, though. I was their good news appointment of the day.

And I had a massage appointment on July 31st, just before taking a couple of days of leave followed by a long weekend. After three full weeks of work bracketed by two short weeks, I needed to destress and relax.

What I’m watching and reading

I finished watching Extraordinary Attorney Woo (Netflix). I wanted to check it out because Young Woo is autistic, but the character was diagnosed in childhood, exhibits savant-level ability in the law, and has fairly high support needs. I enjoyed the series. The love story was, in particular, adorable. And my usual why-don’t-you-just-talk-to-each-other complaint was neatly sidestepped by Young Woo’s inability to articulate what she was feeling (alexithymia), and Jun Ho’s desire to respect/protect Young Woo. The court cases were interesting, as well, and provided some insight into Korean law and life.

Then, I watched the second season of Reginald the Vampire (network). In the first season, Reginald is glamoured into asking his crush, Sarah, out, is turned, subsequently messes up his new relationship, and has to pass a trial, or be executed. In this season, the overarching plot is that the angel Balestro wants to destroy all of vampire kind. In sub-plots, Reginald struggles to mend his relationship with Sarah, Maurice struggles with his responsibilities as Deacon, and Todd forms a bond with Mike. It’s a fun, if occasionally ridiculous series, and I’m looking forward to seeing more. If SyFy doesn’t cancel the show.

Phil and I watched the fourth season of The Boys (Amazon). This one was the grossest yet, though the violence is always turned up to 11. The Boys have all been captured, except Butcher, who’s now a tentacle monster. Victoria Newman is dead, her daughter’s in the home for troubled supers, almost-president Singer has been arrested, Ashley’s taken Compound V, A-Train has fled with his family, Ryan knows what his father has done and has accidentally killed Grace Mallory, and Homelander is now the power behind the new president, who has just declared martial law. And most of that happened in the last episode (!)

Can’t wait to see what fresh hell is unleashed in season five.

My first read/listen of the month was Habits for Mastering Anxiety by Dr. Tim Sharp. Again, I’ve already read/learned most of the information and techniques he suggests, but reinforcement is queen.

Then I moved onto The Heart of Valor, the third in Tanya Huff’s Confederation series. In the first book, Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr was supposed to be part of an honour guard for a diplomatic mission … and ended up defending said diplomats from a hoard of juvenile Silssviss. In the second, a routine salvage mission becomes a battle zone when the Others show up, and the ship they’re trying to salvage turns out to be a shapeshifting plastic-based lifeform with its own agenda.

In this book, Torin’s been promoted to Gunnery Sergeant and is accompanying a friend and superior officer, who’s recently had most of his body reconstructed in a “tank” due to is last, near-fatal mission, to Crucible, the marine training planet. Major Svenson and his doctor are eager to field test his new body in a non-fatal environment. But almost as soon as they arrive on Crucible, things start to go pear shaped. Good series, so far.

Next, I finished my reread of The Wandering Fire, the second book of Guy Gavriel Kay’s Fionavar Tapestry. Ah, this was a rough one. Death and loss and all the feels.

Returning to non-fiction/self-care territory, I listened to another Dr. Tim Sharp audiobook, Habits for Mastering Depression. There is a fair amount of redundancy in the series, Sharp emphasizes the power of habits while making space for feeling our feelings, good or bad. It’s okay not to be okay. Depression, anxiety, and other instances of poor mental health are a part of life, even for the most diligent of us.

Then, I read Peter S. Beagle’s I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons. It’s his first publication since his legal woes were resolved and I had to read it. Let me tell you, Beagle was the originator of the cozy fantasy (like Legends & Lattes). In this novel, there is a non-conforming princess who’s ironically made it her (outward) life’s mission to conform, a crown prince who doesn’t want to take his crown, and a dragon exterminator who’d rather be a valet and squire (to someone like the crown prince, perhaps?).

Sword battles (and more horrible things) do happen, but they’re not the focus of the book, rather the characters have to find their own ways through the muddle of their lives to find their true callings. Robert was a little too angry, and Beagle didn’t quite stick the landing, but I still love the book. It’s been too long.

Then, I listened to Dr. Tim Sharp’s Habits for Happiness. Some similar elements but some different ones as well. Oddly, Sharp updated this audiobook after the pandemic and the updated chapter comes first, before the breakdown of the original ten habits? Again, decent information, but I don’t know how much I can actually implement as an autistic.

Then, my annual Audible credits were deposited, and I nabbed Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Anguish and Anarchy. At the end of the last book, just as the monarchy had been toppled for good, Zélie, her brother Tzain, her sometime boyfriend Inan, his sister Amari, and hundred of their people were captured by a new enemy whose warriors wear iron skull masks.

They spend months in cages, injected with majicite to suppress their abilities, are tortured, and some killed by the people they name Skulls. Baldyr, king of the Skulls, seeks Zélie so he can drain her power and become a god. The book is filled with action, beginning to end, as Zélie fights to regain her power (again) and save not only her people, but the world from Baldyr’s conquest.

Another Tim Sharp Audible Original: Habits for Humanity. This one had a different emphasis, more like Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism. Basically, as technology plays a greater and greater role in our lives, how to we reconnect to being human?

I also finished Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow. The book introduces us to the two principle thinking systems that define how we perceive everything. System 1 is fast and intuitive, and System 2 is slow and analytical. There’s a continual feedback loop between the two systems and they influence each other.

Most of the book focuses on the assumptions and logical fallacies that System 1 is prey to (and therefore makes us prey to) and how we can resist and correct them by the thoughtful application of System 2 thinking. Most of the examples in the book were from economics, insurance, and big business, which made it difficult to relate to, but it was interesting. I don’t think my System 1 is well developed.

Then, I finished Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere. Yeah, I know, I’m late to the party. I watched the series last year and wanted to read the novel because adaptation is always a fascinating study. In this case the book and the series were similar, but I definitely see why the changes to the series were made. Most of the changes were made to add to the climax or denouement.

[Here be spoilers!] In the book, Izzy sets the fire and runs away in search of Mia, Bebe abducts Mayling and flies back to China, and Mrs. Richardson has a change of heart and begins what may be a life-long search for her youngest daughter. In the series, Moody encourages Trip and Lexie to set fire to the house with him after Izzy runs away. Bebe has a scene where she’s driving away with her daughter, happy, but destination uncertain. And Mrs. Richardson takes responsibility for setting the fire herself, to spare her children. The differences are subtle but telling. And I kind of like the series better, though the novel is excellent.

Next, I finished Robert J. Sawyer’s Red Planet Blues. It’s basically a hardboiled detective story set on Mars, with all the off-colour tropes that entails. Sawyer’s worldbuilding is excellent, and the fact that he’s dealing with transfers (people who opt to upload into nigh on indestructible bodies) and fossil hunters doesn’t detract from the Marlowe-esque narrative. Fun read, but with a typically bittersweet ending.

And that was the month in this writer’s life.

Until next month, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

The next chapter: A month in the writerly life melaniemarttila.ca

The next chapter: June 2024 update

/ Melanie Marttila

I just may be more burnt out than I thought I was.

Picture of a cloud-speckled evening sky above trees.

Life in general

Though I knew I needed to rest during my six-week leave with income averaging (LIA), I thought it would only take a few days and then I’d be ready to hit the ground running with some planned activities.

I was hoping to:

  • Recover my garden from two years of neglect and three of minimal effort before that.
  • Paint the outside door (to match the other that has been painted for, like seven years now?).
  • Give the house a thorough cleaning.
  • Rearrange my office.

But the most I was able to accomplish in May was to repot some plants and get my bird feeders and bird bath set up. I bought the paint for the door, but never got around to the repainting.

Also, I was still seeing signs that I was dysregulated. Stumbling around and bumping into things; forgetting that I had something in my hands (like a freshly-emptied incense holder) and carrying it with my into another room only to realize I had it in my hand, putting it back, and forgetting why I was walking into another room; forgetting my meds; forgetting components of my rituals. And the list goes on.

As a result, I thought I’d let my recovery process guide me until after the Stillwater Writing Retreat (see below) on the second weekend of June. The retreat itself would be a bit of a reset with minimal/no access to social media, streaming, and my favourite time-waster game.

No revenge procrastination (though there’s no longer anything to revenge?) for two days. I was hoping that might help to reset my internal clock.

Since the onset of my LIA, I’d been routinely staying up until 1:30 or 2 am and sleeping in to compensate the next day. In June, that naturally started to sort itself out and I was getting to bed at midnight or 12:30 am.

I did get to bed earlier at the retreat, but it was only two days and as soon as I was back home, established habits took hold. I slowly came to the realization that I may not get many (or any) of my big goals completed during this leave.

And then a heatwave arrived. In a house with no central air, it was a miserable few days.

Just focused on recovery. And revision/writing.

But … I seem to have recovered from my sinusitis (at last). The third course of antibiotics was finished the day I left for the Stillwater Retreat. And I decided to discontinue both the antihistamines and the neti pot while I was away. I would have been too much to manage while travelling.

I resumed the neti pot when I returned but stopped it again after another week. I never got used to the sensory ick of it. Yes, it was effective in clearing out my sinuses, but my eyes watered, I drooled (!), and I sneezed multiple times during each session. Even if the water was cool, the saline solution felt like it was burning my nasal passages. Thoroughly unpleasant.

I am keeping the neti pot and remaining saline solution sachets as well as the remaining month of antihistamines in case the seasonal allergies return in the fall. A few days of discomfort is worth fending off another bout of sinusitis.

And I have a follow up appointment with my doctor on July 2nd. We’ll see what he says.

The month in writing

The month was devoted to continuing revisions/rewriting of the third act of Reality Bomb, as well as the work I committed to when I enrolled in Ariel Gordon’s workshop.

A gentle reminder that I’ve stopped sharing screenshots of my Excel writing and revision tracker because I’ve stopped setting goals in it. It’s purely the tracking of the writing and revision I accomplish within the given months and year. And I’m not tracking RB at all. At this point there’s more rewriting going on with that project than straight revision, and it’s had to compare previous drafts with this one, particularly when I’m combining bits of what were separate chapters in the last draft and then shifting bits around so that none of it even vaguely resembles what went before.

It’s actually made writing and revision easier. I don’t feel the pressure of not meeting a particular goal. I used to revise my goals multiple times a year because I wasn’t “up to par,” which is ridiculous. I’m feeling better about my writing and revision progress now. I’m flowing with highs and lows of my energy. I do what I can, when I can, with the energy I have, and it is enough. So am I 🙂

June 6th was a good news day. First, my poem, “Vasilisa,” was published in Polar Borealis 30.

The cover of Polar Borealis 30 featuring artwork by Derek Newman-Stille.

Then, I received an email that work was proceeding on the anthology that one of my stories was accepted for last year (!). I can’t talk about it now, but I’ll share what I can, when I can.

On the 13th, I received an email from a reader telling me how much they appreciated “The Art of Floating.” It warms an author’s heart to know that they’ve touched someone with their words.

On the 14th, The Temz Review released this thoughtful and thorough review of The Art of Floating. It gave me all the feels. But mostly gratitude.

Then, of the 15th, Trish Talks Books posted this lovely review on Instagram.

On the 18th, I received the notification that my reading fee and travel reimbursement for the Conspiracy of 3 reading last month would be deposited by the end of the week.

I only had one meeting with Suzy this month because I had to work around the Stillwater Retreat (see below). We met on the 20th. It was a good meeting. I’m still getting many of the same comments, but I’m anticipating them now, and I have a better idea of the revision I need to complete after each session. We’re moving on to the climax. The end is in sight. Exciting!

On the 21st, I received notification that I have been accepted as an Access Copyright Affiliate.

And then, on the 28th, The Wordstock Sudbury literary festival announced its lineup for this year’s festival, including me (!), Kim Fahner, Ariel Gordon, Danielle Daniel, Drew Hayden Taylor, Hollay Ghadery, and more! So honoured to be included in this stellar 11th edition of Wordstock! Here is the article by Heidi Ulrichsen for Sudbury.com, and the Sudbury Star’s coverage.

Press release image for the 11th edition of the Wordstock Sudbury Literary Festival.

In the area of the business of writing, the League of Canadian Poets (LCP) town hall was on the 18th and their AGM was on the 25th.

In between, on the 23rd was the an SF Canada Board meeting.

And the Canadian Authors Association AGM was on the 29th.

I am definitely AGM’d out!

Filling the well

The new Hawthorn moon in Gemini was on the 6th. It was not only overcast but raining as well.

The summer solstice was on the 20th this year. The heatwave we’d been suffering through all week finally broke. It was still hot, but overcast (surprise, surprise!). I lit my altar and followed a guided meditation.

And the full Strawberry moon in Capricorn was on the 21st. Another overcast day.

A picture of the waxing moon among dynamic clouds.

My intention was to keep my learning light this month and I think I managed it, despite myself.

I registered for the virtual Nebula conference and awards weekend from June 6 to 8, but then (and this is just one of the many symptoms of my ongoing dysregulation) I signed up for Lauren Carter’s Stillwater Retreat from June 7 to 9. Fortunately, I was able to catch the virtual sessions in replay.

ICYMI, here was my post about the Stillwater Retreat.

The second session of Ariel Gordon’s Dispatches from the World workshop was on the 11th and the third and final session was on the 25th. I wrote 2 poems for the 11th, which I revised into 1, and then I wrote and revised a creative non-fiction piece for the 25th. 

The next Free Expressions webinar I signed up for was Fate vs. Destiny with Donald Maass on the 13th. Interesting and thought-provoking, as usual.

And on the 17th, I virtually attended Imagining the Future We Want to Live In at the Sudbury Indie Cinema. I had intended to go in person but, at the last minute, I noticed that the event would be livecast on Facebook, and I attended that way. Minding my spoons 🙂

The Locus Awards weekend started on the 19th and went through until the 22nd. I caught several readings and the awards ceremony on zoom or Youtube and hope to catch the rest on replay.

Finally, I registered for a webinar on “Writing and Pitching your Hybrid Memoir” with Courtney Maum (!) through Jane Friedman on the 26th. I wasn’t back from walking Torvi in time, so I watched the replay when it was released. As I continue to toy with the idea of a hybrid memoir, this course was invaluable.

In personal care, I had a support group meeting on the 12th. The topic was emotional regulation, and it was a good session, though the last until September.

I took Torvi for a Furminator groom on the 21st. This was her second with the happy hoodie. She’s still stressed but I like to think the happy hoodie helped.

On the 27th, my mom’s sister and her daughter came to visit. Phil made a lovely bruschetta and salad, and Mom cooked a frittata. We hadn’t seen each other is years, and it was nice.

A white Finn rose in bloom.

What I’m watching and reading

I watched the first season of Hazbin Hotel (Amazon). Charlie Morningstar, daughter of Lucifer and Lilith, has opened the titular hotel in hell with an eye to rehabilitating sinners and getting them into heaven. At the same time Adam (yes, that Adam) and his inquisitors (essentially Valkyries) are increasing the frequency of their culls (read massacres) of hell’s denizens from annually to every six months. Every episode features several musical numbers, so be aware of that, or skip if that’s not your jam, but the performances are quite good. Intended for adults.

Then, I finished watching The Second-Best Hospital in the Galaxy (Amazon), about two alien doctors, Klak and Sleech, who incite all kinds of medical and relationship hijinks while trying to protect the secret of a parasitic lifeform that eats its host’s anxiety…until it departs explosively, killing the host. Very fun, very adult.

Next, I watched Chevalier (Disney +). The movie focuses on Joseph de Boulogne’s attempt to run the Paris Opera House, a position that was chosen by a royal counsel. Though he was an accomplished composer, because he was the son of a slave woman, Boulogne was prevented from taking the position. The end of the movie predicts the next phase of his life in which he fought on the side of the Revolution. Very good.

Phil and I watched the most recent season/series of Doctor Who (Disney +) with Ncuti Gatwa. Phil wasn’t that enamoured, but I enjoyed it overall. There was a little unevenness in the season, but it came together in the end.

And I finished watching the final season of The Crown (Netflix). It focused on the events leading up to Diana’s death through to the marriage of Charles and Camilla. Overall, I think the series was an interesting interpretation of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, though they declined to carry the story through to her death, which may have been a more complete rendering of events. I’m sure they wondered how to address the later scandals of the Royal Family and how to make the last years of Elizabeth’s reign dynamic as health concerns kept both her and Phillip more and more secluded until their respective deaths.

I watched the second season of Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock (Apple TV). Yes, this is a kids’ show, but it’s rich with nostalgia for me. This season focused on the gardening crisis of the gorgs obsession with strawberries and use of chemicals to increase the size of their yield, leading to the disappearance of the radishes and the depletion of the soil. Meanwhile the human doctoral student is trying to perfect her floating wind turbine design. And yes, the series is a little heavy-handed on the moral lesson side, and events can seem either contrived or completely random, but everything comes together at the end. This won’t be everyone’s cuppa, but I love me some Muppets.

I also watched Iwájú (Disney +). It was a lovely fable set in a future Lagos. Tole is a child whose father is a busy inventor. He cannot spend time with her because of work pressures, though his primary goal is to create a robot lizard to protect Tole because children have been disappearing in nearby Lagos. Sadly, the robot isn’t working properly.

Tole and her friend Cole decide to take a trip to Lagos, Tole with the goal of proving to her father that she is a big girl, and Cole with the goal of turning Tole over to the man who’s been abducting children in order to secure care for his sick mother. Because this is a kids’ show, all works out in the end. It was an enjoyable, if short, series.

Finally, I watched Interview with the Vampire, Part II (AMC). Sadly, I missed the first season and since AMC wants viewers to subscribe to AMC + to see it, I missed out. But I now understand why everyone is raving about this series. It’s really good.

A note on the month in reading before I get to the books. Had intended to make time to continue reading my print and ebooks during my leave but ultimately did not. My recovery took precedence. So, all of these books are audiobooks.

My first read of the month was Tomorrow’s Kin, the first novel in Nancy Kress’s Yesterday’s Kin series. I read this series out of order and my head didn’t explode 🙂 In this novel, we’re introduced to Maryanne Jenner, her three children, and the complicated series of events around the Worlders first visit to Earth. But that’s all over by the midpoint of the book, when Noah departs with the World ship. The rest of the novel addresses the fallout of the spore cloud and its effects on the ecosystem (it kills almost all mice and so disrupts prey and predator populations as well as agriculture and the economy, also, Russian and east Asian populations prove not to be immune, also, also, it alters the genome of fetuses making a generation of super-hearer kids, of whom Colin, one of Maryanne’s grandchildren, is one). This novel focuses on the science and the billionaires competing to build the first starship based on the plans the Worlders left behind. Like I said last month, an interesting series.

Then, I read The Men of the Otherworld, by Kelley Armstrong. This collection of linked short stories focuses on Clay and Jeremy. It was nice to get some backstory and context for the werewolf men.

Next, I read Oathbreakers, the second in the Vows and Honor series by Mercedes Lackey. Tarma and Kethry, still intent on earning enough money to open their own schools of battle and wizardry, respectively, join a mercenary company. When their leader disappears, they depart to investigate and enter a world of regal intrigue. There’s still one more book in the series, so I anticipate there will be more adventures in store.

I read Long Hot Summoning by Tanya Huff. It’s the third in her Keeper series (another disordered read—what’s going on?). Diana has graduated high school and finally come into her power as a Keeper. Her first summons? A mall in Kingston in the process of succumbing to the other side. And hell is trying to get a foothold in the real world. Her older sister, Clair, is away on a summoning of her own and Diana dived in, eager to prove herself. Entertaining.

Then, I took a brief break from fiction with The History and Enduring Popularity of Astrology by Katherine Walker. It’s a The Great Courses course converted into an Audible Original. Interesting insight into an art I’ve always dabbled in.

Next, I read Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer. Dr. Sarah Halifax, a preeminent SETI researcher, is in her eighties when the response to a message she sent to an alien civilization arrives. A billionaire benefactor steps in, offering Sarah the titular procedure, which will reset her body to its biological age when she was 25 and enable her to remain alive long enough to continue the conversation with the aliens, the one-way transmission of which takes 18 years. She agrees, her only condition that her husband Don receives the treatment as well. In a cruel twist, the procedure works on Don but not on Sarah. She must duplicate the decoding miracle that she accomplished nearly forty years ago, while Don comes to terms with his restored youth and the inevitability of losing the love of his life.

I listened to Habits for Good Sleep by Timothy J. Sharp, an Audible Original. Nothing new or startling, but a lot of good advice that I could stand to hear again.

My last read/listen of the month was another classic, Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. This novel seemed to be a response to Melville’s Moby Dick, starting with the narrator, a French naturalist, his servant, and a Canadian harpooner boarding The Lincoln in search of a mysterious sea monster, responsible for the sinking of several ships.

The sea monster comes for The Lincoln, and the narrator and his two companions are thrown overboard, only to be brought on board The Nautilus (AKA the sea monster) by Captain Nemo. From there, Nemo declares that they may never leave his ship, and they embark on the titular adventure. The novel shares many of the conceits with Melville’s, including long digressions into the nature and function of The Nautilus, the various sea life the narrator documents in his travels, the occasional people they meet (Nemo is a misanthrope), and the details of their navigational journey. It was okay.

And that was the month in this writer’s life.

Until next month, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

The next chapter: a month in the writerly life. melaniemarttila.ca

The Stillwater Writing Retreat

/ Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

June 7-9, 2024

This event required its own post.

While I attended the Writing Excuses Retreat (WXR) in 2017, that was on a cruise ship and involved a lot of people.

The Stillwater Writing Retreat, on the other hand, organized by Lauren Carter and Anita Allen-Rudzitis of Wild Ground Writing was the first “traditional” writers retreat I’ve attended. The focus of the weekend was to learn strategies to address writerly anxiety and self regulate while still being productive.

I went with Kim Fahner and Laura Young and we had a lovely, writerly road trip on the way down and back from the Loretto Maryholme Retreat Centre in Roches Point, Ontario, on Lake Simcoe. Lots of good conversation, or crack, as Kim would say 🙂

We arrived just after 3 pm, were seen to our rooms (Kim and I shared “The Green Room”), settled in, and I took the opportunity to tour the grounds before supper.

Among the features: a sensory garden, an insect garden, maintained trails, a labyrinth, a memorial cairn for missing and murdered Indigenous girls and women, a medicine wheel garden, a cosmic walking tour, and a “stations of the light” walking tour. Note: I did not take pictures of everything.

Aside from Edgar House and the nearby Fensom Cottage, there are three other cottages to rent, and all look like wonderful places to stay. The Green Room was huge and had an ensuite with clawfoot tub and a sunroom overlooking the lake. The fresh cut peonies smelled divine.

The sessions were well-balanced with independent writing time, and it was great to be in the company of creative women and to walk together on our creative paths for a while.

Friday night, after a group session, we all retired early (travel days are tough!). I was up before six on Saturday and, though it was overcast, donned my swimsuit and made my way to one of the centre’s two docks. The wind made the water choppy, and I wasn’t able to swim (I tried, but no dice), but I took a (refreshing!) dip and sat to dry off before heading back up to Edgar House for breakfast.

While I was there, I explored most of the gardens and trails. I walked the labyrinth. They have three bee boxes and a visiting beekeeper (!). I saw the resident foxes a couple of times, as well as cardinals, red-wing black birds, blue jays, red, grey, and black squirrels, and chipmunks. I had to watch where I stepped because there were tonnes of garden snails.

Calming and peaceful, the Stillwater Retreat was a needed reset during my time off.

If they do it again next year (there was talk) I’m going again.